diff --git a/corepkgs/buildenv.pl b/corepkgs/buildenv.pl
index f98cca7c..26444210 100644
--- a/corepkgs/buildenv.pl
+++ b/corepkgs/buildenv.pl
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 use strict;
 use Cwd;
 use IO::Handle;
+use utf8;
 
 STDOUT->autoflush(1);
 
@@ -53,18 +54,18 @@ sub createLinks {
             elsif (-l _) {
                 my $target = readlink $dstFile or die;
                 if (!-d $target) {
-                    die "collision between directory `$srcFile' and non-directory `$target'";
+                    die "collision between directory ‘$srcFile’ and non-directory ‘$target’";
                 }
-                unlink $dstFile or die "error unlinking `$dstFile': $!";
+                unlink $dstFile or die "error unlinking ‘$dstFile’: $!";
                 mkdir $dstFile, 0755 ||
-                    die "error creating directory `$dstFile': $!";
+                    die "error creating directory ‘$dstFile’: $!";
                 createLinks($target, $dstFile, $priorities{$dstFile});
                 createLinks($srcFile, $dstFile, $priority);
             }
 
             else {
                 symlink($srcFile, $dstFile) ||
-                    die "error creating link `$dstFile': $!";
+                    die "error creating link ‘$dstFile’: $!";
                 $priorities{$dstFile} = $priority;
                 $symlinks++;
             }
@@ -75,17 +76,16 @@ sub createLinks {
             if (-l $dstFile) {
                 my $target = readlink $dstFile;
                 my $prevPriority = $priorities{$dstFile};
-                die ( "collision between `$srcFile' and `$target'; "
-                    . "use `nix-env --set-flag "
-                    . "priority NUMBER PKGNAME' to change the priority of "
-                    . "one of the conflicting packages\n" )
+                die("collision between ‘$srcFile’ and ‘$target’; " .
+                    "use ‘nix-env --set-flag priority NUMBER PKGNAME’ " .
+                    "to change the priority of one of the conflicting packages\n")
                     if $prevPriority == $priority;
                 next if $prevPriority < $priority;
                 unlink $dstFile or die;
             }
 
             symlink($srcFile, $dstFile) ||
-                die "error creating link `$dstFile': $!";
+                die "error creating link ‘$dstFile’: $!";
             $priorities{$dstFile} = $priority;
             $symlinks++;
         }
diff --git a/perl/lib/Nix/Config.pm.in b/perl/lib/Nix/Config.pm.in
index e07d4c08..bc51310e 100644
--- a/perl/lib/Nix/Config.pm.in
+++ b/perl/lib/Nix/Config.pm.in
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ sub readConfig {
     my $config = "$confDir/nix.conf";
     return unless -f $config;
 
-    open CONFIG, "<$config" or die "cannot open `$config'";
+    open CONFIG, "<$config" or die "cannot open ‘$config’";
     while (<CONFIG>) {
         /^\s*([\w\-\.]+)\s*=\s*(.*)$/ or next;
         $config{$1} = $2;
diff --git a/perl/lib/Nix/CopyClosure.pm b/perl/lib/Nix/CopyClosure.pm
index d707158b..10d26c3a 100644
--- a/perl/lib/Nix/CopyClosure.pm
+++ b/perl/lib/Nix/CopyClosure.pm
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package Nix::CopyClosure;
 
+use utf8;
 use strict;
 use Nix::Config;
 use Nix::Store;
@@ -41,7 +42,7 @@ sub copyToOpen {
     # Send the "import paths" command.
     syswrite($to, pack("L<x4", 4)) or die;
     exportPaths(fileno($to), $sign, @missing);
-    readInt($from) == 1 or die "remote machine \`$sshHost' failed to import closure\n";
+    readInt($from) == 1 or die "remote machine ‘$sshHost’ failed to import closure\n";
 }
 
 
@@ -105,7 +106,7 @@ sub oldCopyTo {
         unless ($dryRun) {
             open SSH, "| ssh $sshHost @{$sshOpts} @globalSshOpts 'nix-store --import' > /dev/null" or die;
             exportPaths(fileno(SSH), $sign, @missing);
-            close SSH or die "copying store paths to remote machine `$sshHost' failed: $?";
+            close SSH or die "copying store paths to remote machine ‘$sshHost’ failed: $?";
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/perl/lib/Nix/Manifest.pm b/perl/lib/Nix/Manifest.pm
index 015c9283..9b7e89fa 100644
--- a/perl/lib/Nix/Manifest.pm
+++ b/perl/lib/Nix/Manifest.pm
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package Nix::Manifest;
 
+use utf8;
 use strict;
 use DBI;
 use DBD::SQLite;
@@ -58,10 +59,10 @@ sub readManifest_ {
     # Decompress the manifest if necessary.
     if ($manifest =~ /\.bz2$/) {
         open MANIFEST, "$Nix::Config::bzip2 -d < $manifest |"
-            or die "cannot decompress `$manifest': $!";
+            or die "cannot decompress ‘$manifest’: $!";
     } else {
         open MANIFEST, "<$manifest"
-            or die "cannot open `$manifest': $!";
+            or die "cannot open ‘$manifest’: $!";
     }
 
     my $inside = 0;
@@ -239,7 +240,7 @@ sub updateManifestDB {
 
     # Open/create the database.
     our $dbh = DBI->connect("dbi:SQLite:dbname=$dbPath", "", "")
-        or die "cannot open database `$dbPath'";
+        or die "cannot open database ‘$dbPath’";
     $dbh->{RaiseError} = 1;
     $dbh->{PrintError} = 0;
 
@@ -354,10 +355,10 @@ EOF
         my $version = readManifest_($manifest, \&addNARToDB, \&addPatchToDB);
 
         if ($version < 3) {
-            die "you have an old-style or corrupt manifest `$manifestLink'; please delete it\n";
+            die "you have an old-style or corrupt manifest ‘$manifestLink’; please delete it\n";
         }
         if ($version >= 10) {
-            die "manifest `$manifestLink' is too new; please delete it or upgrade Nix\n";
+            die "manifest ‘$manifestLink’ is too new; please delete it or upgrade Nix\n";
         }
     }
 
@@ -434,27 +435,27 @@ sub parseNARInfo {
 
     if ($requireValidSig) {
         if (!defined $sig) {
-            warn "NAR info file `$location' lacks a signature; ignoring\n";
+            warn "NAR info file ‘$location’ lacks a signature; ignoring\n";
             return undef;
         }
         my ($sigVersion, $keyName, $sig64) = split ";", $sig;
         $sigVersion //= 0;
         if ($sigVersion != 1) {
-            warn "NAR info file `$location' has unsupported version $sigVersion; ignoring\n";
+            warn "NAR info file ‘$location’ has unsupported version $sigVersion; ignoring\n";
             return undef;
         }
         return undef unless defined $keyName && defined $sig64;
         my $publicKeyFile = $Nix::Config::config{"binary-cache-public-key-$keyName"};
         if (!defined $publicKeyFile) {
-            warn "NAR info file `$location' is signed by unknown key `$keyName'; ignoring\n";
+            warn "NAR info file ‘$location’ is signed by unknown key ‘$keyName’; ignoring\n";
             return undef;
         }
         if (! -f $publicKeyFile) {
-            die "binary cache public key file `$publicKeyFile' does not exist\n";
+            die "binary cache public key file ‘$publicKeyFile’ does not exist\n";
             return undef;
         }
         if (!isValidSignature($publicKeyFile, $sig64, $signedData)) {
-            warn "NAR info file `$location' has an invalid signature; ignoring\n";
+            warn "NAR info file ‘$location’ has an invalid signature; ignoring\n";
             return undef;
         }
         $res->{signedBy} = $keyName;
diff --git a/perl/lib/Nix/Utils.pm b/perl/lib/Nix/Utils.pm
index 05cd92b8..32fb0aaf 100644
--- a/perl/lib/Nix/Utils.pm
+++ b/perl/lib/Nix/Utils.pm
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package Nix::Utils;
 
+use utf8;
 use File::Temp qw(tempdir);
 
 our @ISA = qw(Exporter);
@@ -25,7 +26,7 @@ sub uniq {
 
 sub writeFile {
     my ($fn, $s) = @_;
-    open TMP, ">$fn" or die "cannot create file `$fn': $!";
+    open TMP, ">$fn" or die "cannot create file ‘$fn’: $!";
     print TMP "$s" or die;
     close TMP or die;
 }
@@ -33,7 +34,7 @@ sub writeFile {
 sub readFile {
     local $/ = undef;
     my ($fn) = @_;
-    open TMP, "<$fn" or die "cannot open file `$fn': $!";
+    open TMP, "<$fn" or die "cannot open file ‘$fn’: $!";
     my $s = <TMP>;
     close TMP or die;
     return $s;
diff --git a/scripts/build-remote.pl.in b/scripts/build-remote.pl.in
index 243b92cf..2eb33967 100755
--- a/scripts/build-remote.pl.in
+++ b/scripts/build-remote.pl.in
@@ -202,7 +202,7 @@ REQ: while (1) {
         };
         last REQ unless $@;
         print STDERR "$@";
-        warn "unable to open SSH connection to `$hostName', trying other available machines...\n";
+        warn "unable to open SSH connection to ‘$hostName’, trying other available machines...\n";
         $from = undef;
         $to = undef;
         $machine->{enabled} = 0;
@@ -251,7 +251,7 @@ close UPLOADLOCK;
 
 
 # Perform the build.
-print STDERR "building `$drvPath' on `$hostName'\n";
+print STDERR "building ‘$drvPath’ on ‘$hostName’\n";
 writeInt(6, $to) or die; # == cmdBuildPaths
 writeStrings([$drvPath], $to);
 writeInt($maxSilentTime, $to);
@@ -259,7 +259,7 @@ writeInt($buildTimeout, $to);
 my $res = readInt($from);
 if ($res != 0) {
     my $msg = readString($from);
-    print STDERR "error: $msg on `$hostName'\n";
+    print STDERR "error: $msg on ‘$hostName’\n";
     exit $res;
 }
 
diff --git a/scripts/copy-from-other-stores.pl.in b/scripts/copy-from-other-stores.pl.in
index bfd38c9b..cf36bae9 100755
--- a/scripts/copy-from-other-stores.pl.in
+++ b/scripts/copy-from-other-stores.pl.in
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 #! @perl@ -w @perlFlags@
 
+use utf8;
 use strict;
 use File::Basename;
 use IO::Handle;
@@ -57,16 +58,16 @@ if ($ARGV[0] eq "--query") {
                 $ENV{"NIX_DB_DIR"} = "$store/var/nix/db";
 
                 my $deriver = `$binDir/nix-store --query --deriver $storePath`;
-                die "cannot query deriver of `$storePath'" if $? != 0;
+                die "cannot query deriver of ‘$storePath’" if $? != 0;
                 chomp $deriver;
                 $deriver = "" if $deriver eq "unknown-deriver";
 
                 my @references = split "\n",
                     `$binDir/nix-store --query --references $storePath`;
-                die "cannot query references of `$storePath'" if $? != 0;
+                die "cannot query references of ‘$storePath’" if $? != 0;
 
                 my $narSize = `$binDir/nix-store --query --size $storePath`;
-                die "cannot query size of `$storePath'" if $? != 0;
+                die "cannot query size of ‘$storePath’" if $? != 0;
                 chomp $narSize;
 
                 print "$storePath\n";
@@ -80,7 +81,7 @@ if ($ARGV[0] eq "--query") {
             print "\n";
         }
 
-        else { die "unknown command `$cmd'"; }
+        else { die "unknown command ‘$cmd’"; }
     }
 }
 
@@ -91,9 +92,9 @@ elsif ($ARGV[0] eq "--substitute") {
     my $destPath = $ARGV[2];
     my ($store, $sourcePath) = findStorePath $storePath;
     die unless $store;
-    print STDERR "\n*** Copying `$storePath' from `$sourcePath'\n\n";
+    print STDERR "\n*** Copying ‘$storePath’ from ‘$sourcePath’\n\n";
     system("$binDir/nix-store --dump $sourcePath | $binDir/nix-store --restore $destPath") == 0
-        or die "cannot copy `$sourcePath' to `$storePath'";
+        or die "cannot copy ‘$sourcePath’ to ‘$storePath’";
     print "\n"; # no hash to verify
 }
 
diff --git a/scripts/download-from-binary-cache.pl.in b/scripts/download-from-binary-cache.pl.in
index 49f829b6..b7eb72a3 100644
--- a/scripts/download-from-binary-cache.pl.in
+++ b/scripts/download-from-binary-cache.pl.in
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ sub initCache {
 
     # Open/create the database.
     $dbh = DBI->connect("dbi:SQLite:dbname=$dbPath", "", "")
-        or die "cannot open database `$dbPath'";
+        or die "cannot open database ‘$dbPath’";
     $dbh->{RaiseError} = 1;
     $dbh->{PrintError} = 0;
 
@@ -544,7 +544,7 @@ sub downloadBinary {
         print STDERR "\n*** Downloading ‘$url’ ", ($requireSignedBinaryCaches ? "(signed by ‘$info->{signedBy}’) " : ""), "to ‘$storePath’...\n";
         checkURL $url;
         if (system("$Nix::Config::curl --fail --location --insecure --connect-timeout $curlConnectTimeout '$url' $decompressor | $Nix::Config::binDir/nix-store --restore $destPath") != 0) {
-            warn "download of `$url' failed" . ($! ? ": $!" : "") . "\n";
+            warn "download of ‘$url’ failed" . ($! ? ": $!" : "") . "\n";
             next;
         }
 
@@ -590,7 +590,7 @@ if ($ARGV[0] eq "--query") {
             print "\n";
         }
 
-        else { die "unknown command `$cmd'"; }
+        else { die "unknown command ‘$cmd’"; }
 
         flush STDOUT;
     }
diff --git a/scripts/download-using-manifests.pl.in b/scripts/download-using-manifests.pl.in
index de63aec5..e849a930 100755
--- a/scripts/download-using-manifests.pl.in
+++ b/scripts/download-using-manifests.pl.in
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 #! @perl@ -w @perlFlags@
 
+use utf8;
 use strict;
 use Nix::Config;
 use Nix::Manifest;
@@ -228,7 +229,7 @@ if ($ARGV[0] eq "--query") {
             print "\n";
         }
 
-        else { die "unknown command `$cmd'"; }
+        else { die "unknown command ‘$cmd’"; }
     }
 
     exit 0;
@@ -257,7 +258,7 @@ open LOGFILE, ">>$logFile" or die "cannot open log file $logFile";
 my $date = strftime ("%F %H:%M:%S UTC", gmtime (time));
 print LOGFILE "$$ get $targetPath $date\n";
 
-print STDERR "\n*** Trying to download/patch `$targetPath'\n";
+print STDERR "\n*** Trying to download/patch ‘$targetPath’\n";
 
 
 # Compute the shortest path.
@@ -286,7 +287,7 @@ while (scalar @path > 0) {
     print STDERR "\n*** Step $curStep/$maxStep: ";
 
     if ($edge->{type} eq "present") {
-        print STDERR "using already present path `$v'\n";
+        print STDERR "using already present path ‘$v’\n";
         print LOGFILE "$$ present $v\n";
 
         if ($curStep < $maxStep) {
@@ -295,13 +296,13 @@ while (scalar @path > 0) {
             # into a NAR archive, to which we can apply the patch.
             print STDERR "  packing base path...\n";
             system("$Nix::Config::binDir/nix-store --dump $v > $tmpNar") == 0
-                or die "cannot dump `$v'";
+                or die "cannot dump ‘$v’";
         }
     }
 
     elsif ($edge->{type} eq "patch") {
         my $patch = $edge->{info};
-        print STDERR "applying patch `$patch->{url}' to `$u' to create `$v'\n";
+        print STDERR "applying patch ‘$patch->{url}’ to ‘$u’ to create ‘$v’\n";
 
         print LOGFILE "$$ patch $patch->{url} $patch->{size} $patch->{baseHash} $u $v\n";
 
@@ -310,13 +311,13 @@ while (scalar @path > 0) {
         my $patchPath = "$tmpDir/patch";
         checkURL $patch->{url};
         system("$curl '$patch->{url}' -o $patchPath") == 0
-            or die "cannot download patch `$patch->{url}'\n";
+            or die "cannot download patch ‘$patch->{url}’\n";
 
         # Apply the patch to the NAR archive produced in step 1 (for
         # the already present path) or a later step (for patch sequences).
         print STDERR "  applying patch...\n";
         system("$Nix::Config::libexecDir/nix/bspatch $tmpNar $tmpNar2 $patchPath") == 0
-            or die "cannot apply patch `$patchPath' to $tmpNar\n";
+            or die "cannot apply patch ‘$patchPath’ to $tmpNar\n";
 
         if ($curStep < $maxStep) {
             # The archive will be used as the base of the next patch.
@@ -326,7 +327,7 @@ while (scalar @path > 0) {
             # into the target path.
             print STDERR "  unpacking patched archive...\n";
             system("$Nix::Config::binDir/nix-store --restore $destPath < $tmpNar2") == 0
-                or die "cannot unpack $tmpNar2 to `$v'\n";
+                or die "cannot unpack $tmpNar2 to ‘$v’\n";
         }
 
         $finalNarHash = $patch->{narHash};
@@ -334,7 +335,7 @@ while (scalar @path > 0) {
 
     elsif ($edge->{type} eq "narfile") {
         my $narFile = $edge->{info};
-        print STDERR "downloading `$narFile->{url}' to `$v'\n";
+        print STDERR "downloading ‘$narFile->{url}’ to ‘$v’\n";
 
         my $size = $narFile->{size} || -1;
         print LOGFILE "$$ narfile $narFile->{url} $size $v\n";
@@ -345,16 +346,16 @@ while (scalar @path > 0) {
             $narFile->{compressionType} eq "bzip2" ? "| $Nix::Config::bzip2 -d" :
             $narFile->{compressionType} eq "xz" ? "| $Nix::Config::xz -d" :
             $narFile->{compressionType} eq "none" ? "" :
-            die "unknown compression type `$narFile->{compressionType}'";
+            die "unknown compression type ‘$narFile->{compressionType}’";
 
         if ($curStep < $maxStep) {
             # The archive will be used a base to a patch.
             system("$curl '$narFile->{url}' $decompressor > $tmpNar") == 0
-                or die "cannot download and unpack `$narFile->{url}' to `$v'\n";
+                or die "cannot download and unpack ‘$narFile->{url}’ to ‘$v’\n";
         } else {
             # Unpack the archive to the target path.
             system("$curl '$narFile->{url}' $decompressor | $Nix::Config::binDir/nix-store --restore '$destPath'") == 0
-                or die "cannot download and unpack `$narFile->{url}' to `$v'\n";
+                or die "cannot download and unpack ‘$narFile->{url}’ to ‘$v’\n";
         }
 
         $finalNarHash = $narFile->{narHash};
diff --git a/scripts/install-nix-from-closure.sh b/scripts/install-nix-from-closure.sh
index 8aa227af..ef561499 100644
--- a/scripts/install-nix-from-closure.sh
+++ b/scripts/install-nix-from-closure.sh
@@ -24,15 +24,15 @@ echo "performing a single-user installation of Nix..." >&2
 
 if ! [ -e $dest ]; then
     cmd="mkdir -m 0755 $dest && chown $USER $dest"
-    echo "directory $dest does not exist; creating it by running \`$cmd' using sudo" >&2
+    echo "directory $dest does not exist; creating it by running ‘$cmd’ using sudo" >&2
     if ! sudo sh -c "$cmd"; then
-        echo "$0: please manually run \`$cmd' as root to create $dest" >&2
+        echo "$0: please manually run ‘$cmd’ as root to create $dest" >&2
         exit 1
     fi
 fi
 
 if ! [ -w $dest ]; then
-    echo "$0: directory $dest exists, but is not writable by you; please run \`chown -R $USER $dest' as root" >&2
+    echo "$0: directory $dest exists, but is not writable by you; please run ‘chown -R $USER $dest’ as root" >&2
     exit 1
 fi
 
diff --git a/scripts/nix-build.in b/scripts/nix-build.in
index 381dbd5e..fb92a490 100755
--- a/scripts/nix-build.in
+++ b/scripts/nix-build.in
@@ -55,37 +55,37 @@ for (my $n = 0; $n < scalar @ARGV; $n++) {
 
     elsif ($arg eq "--drv-link") {
         $n++;
-        die "$0: `$arg' requires an argument\n" unless $n < scalar @ARGV;
+        die "$0: ‘$arg’ requires an argument\n" unless $n < scalar @ARGV;
         $drvLink = $ARGV[$n];
     }
 
     elsif ($arg eq "--out-link" || $arg eq "-o") {
         $n++;
-        die "$0: `$arg' requires an argument\n" unless $n < scalar @ARGV;
+        die "$0: ‘$arg’ requires an argument\n" unless $n < scalar @ARGV;
         $outLink = $ARGV[$n];
     }
 
     elsif ($arg eq "--attr" || $arg eq "-A" || $arg eq "-I") {
         $n++;
-        die "$0: `$arg' requires an argument\n" unless $n < scalar @ARGV;
+        die "$0: ‘$arg’ requires an argument\n" unless $n < scalar @ARGV;
         push @instArgs, ($arg, $ARGV[$n]);
     }
 
     elsif ($arg eq "--arg" || $arg eq "--argstr") {
-        die "$0: `$arg' requires two arguments\n" unless $n + 2 < scalar @ARGV;
+        die "$0: ‘$arg’ requires two arguments\n" unless $n + 2 < scalar @ARGV;
         push @instArgs, ($arg, $ARGV[$n + 1], $ARGV[$n + 2]);
         $n += 2;
     }
 
     elsif ($arg eq "--log-type") {
         $n++;
-        die "$0: `$arg' requires an argument\n" unless $n < scalar @ARGV;
+        die "$0: ‘$arg’ requires an argument\n" unless $n < scalar @ARGV;
         push @instArgs, ($arg, $ARGV[$n]);
         push @buildArgs, ($arg, $ARGV[$n]);
     }
 
     elsif ($arg eq "--option") {
-        die "$0: `$arg' requires two arguments\n" unless $n + 2 < scalar @ARGV;
+        die "$0: ‘$arg’ requires two arguments\n" unless $n + 2 < scalar @ARGV;
         push @instArgs, ($arg, $ARGV[$n + 1], $ARGV[$n + 2]);
         push @buildArgs, ($arg, $ARGV[$n + 1], $ARGV[$n + 2]);
         $n += 2;
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ for (my $n = 0; $n < scalar @ARGV; $n++) {
 
     elsif ($arg eq "--max-jobs" || $arg eq "-j" || $arg eq "--max-silent-time" || $arg eq "--log-type" || $arg eq "--cores" || $arg eq "--timeout" || $arg eq '--add-root') {
         $n++;
-        die "$0: `$arg' requires an argument\n" unless $n < scalar @ARGV;
+        die "$0: ‘$arg’ requires an argument\n" unless $n < scalar @ARGV;
         push @buildArgs, ($arg, $ARGV[$n]);
     }
 
@@ -131,13 +131,13 @@ for (my $n = 0; $n < scalar @ARGV; $n++) {
 
     elsif ($arg eq "--command") {
         $n++;
-        die "$0: `$arg' requires an argument\n" unless $n < scalar @ARGV;
+        die "$0: ‘$arg’ requires an argument\n" unless $n < scalar @ARGV;
         $envCommand = "$ARGV[$n]\nexit $!";
     }
 
     elsif ($arg eq "--exclude") {
         $n++;
-        die "$0: `$arg' requires an argument\n" unless $n < scalar @ARGV;
+        die "$0: ‘$arg’ requires an argument\n" unless $n < scalar @ARGV;
         push @envExclude, $ARGV[$n];
     }
 
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ foreach my $expr (@exprs) {
         die "$0: a single derivation is required\n" if scalar @drvPaths != 1;
         my $drvPath = $drvPaths[0];
         $drvPath = (split '!',$drvPath)[0];
-        $drvPath = readlink $drvPath or die "cannot read symlink `$drvPath'" if -l $drvPath;
+        $drvPath = readlink $drvPath or die "cannot read symlink ‘$drvPath’" if -l $drvPath;
         my $drv = derivationFromPath($drvPath);
 
         # Build or fetch all dependencies of the derivation.
@@ -257,7 +257,7 @@ foreach my $expr (@exprs) {
         } else {
             $p = $drvPath;
         }
-        my $target = readlink $p or die "cannot read symlink `$p'";
+        my $target = readlink $p or die "cannot read symlink ‘$p’";
         print STDERR "derivation is $target\n" if $verbose;
         if ($target eq $prevDrvPath) {
             push @drvPaths2, (pop @drvPaths2) . "," . $output;
@@ -280,7 +280,7 @@ foreach my $expr (@exprs) {
     next if $dryRun;
 
     foreach my $outPath (@outPaths) {
-        my $target = readlink $outPath or die "cannot read symlink `$outPath'";
+        my $target = readlink $outPath or die "cannot read symlink ‘$outPath’";
         print "$target\n";
     }
 }
diff --git a/scripts/nix-channel.in b/scripts/nix-channel.in
index 62292a87..407f2749 100755
--- a/scripts/nix-channel.in
+++ b/scripts/nix-channel.in
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ my %channels;
 # Reads the list of channels.
 sub readChannels {
     return if (!-f $channelsList);
-    open CHANNELS, "<$channelsList" or die "cannot open `$channelsList': $!";
+    open CHANNELS, "<$channelsList" or die "cannot open ‘$channelsList’: $!";
     while (<CHANNELS>) {
         chomp;
         next if /^\s*\#/;
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ sub readChannels {
 
 # Writes the list of channels.
 sub writeChannels {
-    open CHANNELS, ">$channelsList" or die "cannot open `$channelsList': $!";
+    open CHANNELS, ">$channelsList" or die "cannot open ‘$channelsList’: $!";
     foreach my $name (keys %channels) {
         print CHANNELS "$channels{$name} $name\n";
     }
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ sub removeChannel {
     writeChannels;
 
     system("$Nix::Config::binDir/nix-env --profile '$profile' -e '$name'") == 0
-        or die "cannot remove channel `$name'\n";
+        or die "cannot remove channel ‘$name’\n";
 }
 
 
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ sub update {
         # consistency if the redirection is changed between
         # downloading the manifest and the tarball.
         my $headers = `$Nix::Config::curl --silent --head '$url'`;
-        die "$0: unable to check `$url'\n" if $? != 0;
+        die "$0: unable to check ‘$url’\n" if $? != 0;
         $headers =~ s/\r//g;
         $url = $1 if $headers =~ /^Location:\s*(.*)\s*$/m;
 
@@ -115,19 +115,19 @@ sub update {
         if ($getManifest) {
             # No binary cache, so pull the channel manifest.
             mkdir $manifestDir, 0755 unless -e $manifestDir;
-            die "$0: you do not have write permission to `$manifestDir'!\n" unless -W $manifestDir;
+            die "$0: you do not have write permission to ‘$manifestDir’!\n" unless -W $manifestDir;
             $ENV{'NIX_ORIG_URL'} = $origUrl;
             system("$Nix::Config::binDir/nix-pull", "--skip-wrong-store", "$url/MANIFEST") == 0
-                or die "cannot pull manifest from `$url'\n";
+                or die "cannot pull manifest from ‘$url’\n";
         }
 
         # Download the channel tarball.
         my $fullURL = "$url/nixexprs.tar.xz";
         system("$Nix::Config::curl --fail --silent --head '$fullURL' > /dev/null") == 0 or
             $fullURL = "$url/nixexprs.tar.bz2";
-        print STDERR "downloading Nix expressions from `$fullURL'...\n";
+        print STDERR "downloading Nix expressions from ‘$fullURL’...\n";
         my ($hash, $path) = `PRINT_PATH=1 QUIET=1 $Nix::Config::binDir/nix-prefetch-url '$fullURL'`;
-        die "cannot fetch `$fullURL'\n" if $? != 0;
+        die "cannot fetch ‘$fullURL’\n" if $? != 0;
         chomp $path;
 
         # If the URL contains a version number, append it to the name
@@ -148,10 +148,10 @@ sub update {
 
     # Make the channels appear in nix-env.
     unlink $nixDefExpr if -l $nixDefExpr; # old-skool ~/.nix-defexpr
-    mkdir $nixDefExpr or die "cannot create directory `$nixDefExpr'" if !-e $nixDefExpr;
+    mkdir $nixDefExpr or die "cannot create directory ‘$nixDefExpr’" if !-e $nixDefExpr;
     my $channelLink = "$nixDefExpr/channels";
     unlink $channelLink; # !!! not atomic
-    symlink($profile, $channelLink) or die "cannot symlink `$channelLink' to `$profile'";
+    symlink($profile, $channelLink) or die "cannot symlink ‘$channelLink’ to ‘$profile’";
 }
 
 
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ while (scalar @ARGV) {
     my $arg = shift @ARGV;
 
     if ($arg eq "--add") {
-        die "$0: `--add' requires one or two arguments\n" if scalar @ARGV < 1 || scalar @ARGV > 2;
+        die "$0: ‘--add’ requires one or two arguments\n" if scalar @ARGV < 1 || scalar @ARGV > 2;
         my $url = shift @ARGV;
         my $name = shift @ARGV;
         unless (defined $name) {
@@ -175,13 +175,13 @@ while (scalar @ARGV) {
     }
 
     if ($arg eq "--remove") {
-        die "$0: `--remove' requires one argument\n" if scalar @ARGV != 1;
+        die "$0: ‘--remove’ requires one argument\n" if scalar @ARGV != 1;
         removeChannel(shift @ARGV);
         last;
     }
 
     if ($arg eq "--list") {
-        die "$0: `--list' requires one argument\n" if scalar @ARGV != 0;
+        die "$0: ‘--list’ requires one argument\n" if scalar @ARGV != 0;
         readChannels;
         foreach my $name (keys %channels) {
             print "$name $channels{$name}\n";
@@ -204,6 +204,6 @@ while (scalar @ARGV) {
     }
 
     else {
-        die "unknown argument `$arg'; try `--help'\n";
+        die "unknown argument ‘$arg’; try ‘--help’\n";
     }
 }
diff --git a/scripts/nix-copy-closure.in b/scripts/nix-copy-closure.in
index bd20148b..10c2a917 100755
--- a/scripts/nix-copy-closure.in
+++ b/scripts/nix-copy-closure.in
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ while (@ARGV) {
         $sign = 1;
     }
     elsif ($arg eq "--gzip" || $arg eq "--bzip2" || $arg eq "--xz") {
-        warn "$0: `$arg' is not implemented\n" if $arg ne "--gzip";
+        warn "$0: ‘$arg’ is not implemented\n" if $arg ne "--gzip";
         push @globalSshOpts, "-C";
     }
     elsif ($arg eq "--from") {
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ while (@ARGV) {
         $includeOutputs = 1;
     }
     elsif ($arg eq "--show-progress") {
-        warn "$0: `$arg' is not implemented\n";
+        warn "$0: ‘$arg’ is not implemented\n";
     }
     elsif ($arg eq "--dry-run") {
         $dryRun = 1;
diff --git a/scripts/nix-install-package.in b/scripts/nix-install-package.in
index a3187c72..9340f1b7 100755
--- a/scripts/nix-install-package.in
+++ b/scripts/nix-install-package.in
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ while (scalar @args) {
     }
     elsif ($arg eq "--profile" || $arg eq "-p") {
         my $profile = shift @args;
-        die "$0: `--profile' requires an argument\n" if !defined $profile;
+        die "$0: ‘--profile’ requires an argument\n" if !defined $profile;
         push @extraNixEnvArgs, "-p", $profile;
     }
     elsif ($arg eq "--non-interactive") {
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ if ($interactive && !defined $ENV{"NIX_HAVE_TERMINAL"}) {
     foreach my $term ("xterm", "konsole", "gnome-terminal", "xterm") {
         exec($term, "-e", "$Nix::Config::binDir/nix-install-package", @ARGV);
     }
-    die "cannot execute `xterm'";
+    die "cannot execute ‘xterm’";
 }
 
 
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ if ($fromURL) {
 
 
 # Read and parse the package file.
-open PKGFILE, "<$pkgFile" or barf "cannot open `$pkgFile': $!";
+open PKGFILE, "<$pkgFile" or barf "cannot open ‘$pkgFile’: $!";
 my $contents = <PKGFILE>;
 close PKGFILE;
 
@@ -92,12 +92,12 @@ my $drvPath = $5;
 my $outPath = $6;
 my $binaryCacheURL = $8;
 
-barf "invalid package version `$version'" unless $version eq "NIXPKG1";
+barf "invalid package version ‘$version’" unless $version eq "NIXPKG1";
 
 
 if ($interactive) {
     # Ask confirmation.
-    print "Do you want to install `$drvName' (Y/N)? ";
+    print "Do you want to install ‘$drvName’ (Y/N)? ";
     my $reply = <STDIN>;
     chomp $reply;
     exit if $reply ne "y" && $reply ne "Y";
diff --git a/scripts/nix-prefetch-url.in b/scripts/nix-prefetch-url.in
index 24753bd5..869d29c3 100755
--- a/scripts/nix-prefetch-url.in
+++ b/scripts/nix-prefetch-url.in
@@ -17,9 +17,9 @@ while ($arg = shift) {
         exec "man nix-prefetch-url" or die;
     } elsif ($arg eq "--type") {
         $hashType = shift;
-        die "$0: `$arg' requires an argument\n" unless defined $hashType;
+        die "$0: ‘$arg’ requires an argument\n" unless defined $hashType;
     } elsif (substr($arg, 0, 1) eq "-") {
-        die "$0: unknown flag `$arg'\n";
+        die "$0: unknown flag ‘$arg’\n";
     } else {
         push @args, $arg;
     }
diff --git a/scripts/nix-pull.in b/scripts/nix-pull.in
index 77fb33ba..f9785d8e 100755
--- a/scripts/nix-pull.in
+++ b/scripts/nix-pull.in
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ umask 0022;
 
 # Create the manifests directory if it doesn't exist.
 if (! -e $manifestDir) {
-    mkdir $manifestDir, 0755 or die "cannot create directory `$manifestDir'";
+    mkdir $manifestDir, 0755 or die "cannot create directory ‘$manifestDir’";
 }
 
 
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ if (! -e $manifestDir) {
 my $gcRootsDir = "$Nix::Config::stateDir/gcroots";
 my $manifestDirLink = "$gcRootsDir/manifests";
 if (! -l $manifestDirLink) {
-    symlink($manifestDir, $manifestDirLink) or die "cannot create symlink `$manifestDirLink'";
+    symlink($manifestDir, $manifestDirLink) or die "cannot create symlink ‘$manifestDirLink’";
 }
 
 
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ sub downloadFile {
     $ENV{"PRINT_PATH"} = 1;
     $ENV{"QUIET"} = 1;
     my ($dummy, $path) = `$Nix::Config::binDir/nix-prefetch-url '$url'`;
-    die "cannot fetch `$url'" if $? != 0;
+    die "cannot fetch ‘$url’" if $? != 0;
     die "nix-prefetch-url did not return a path" unless defined $path;
     chomp $path;
     return $path;
@@ -49,13 +49,13 @@ sub processURL {
 
     # First see if a bzipped manifest is available.
     if (system("$Nix::Config::curl --fail --silent --location --head '$url'.bz2 > /dev/null") == 0) {
-        print "fetching list of Nix archives at `$url.bz2'...\n";
+        print "fetching list of Nix archives at ‘$url.bz2’...\n";
         $manifest = downloadFile "$url.bz2";
     }
 
     # Otherwise, just get the uncompressed manifest.
     else {
-        print "fetching list of Nix archives at `$url'...\n";
+        print "fetching list of Nix archives at ‘$url’...\n";
         $manifest = downloadFile $url;
     }
 
@@ -65,11 +65,11 @@ sub processURL {
     }
 
     my $hash = `$Nix::Config::binDir/nix-hash --flat '$manifest'`
-        or die "cannot hash `$manifest'";
+        or die "cannot hash ‘$manifest’";
     chomp $hash;
 
     my $urlFile = "$manifestDir/$baseName-$hash.url";
-    open URL, ">$urlFile" or die "cannot create `$urlFile'";
+    open URL, ">$urlFile" or die "cannot create ‘$urlFile’";
     print URL $origUrl;
     close URL;
 
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ sub processURL {
     unlink $finalPath if -e $finalPath;
 
     symlink("$manifest", "$finalPath")
-        or die "cannot link `$finalPath to `$manifest'";
+        or die "cannot link ‘$finalPath’ to ‘$manifest’";
 
     deleteOldManifests($origUrl, $urlFile);
 }
diff --git a/scripts/nix-push.in b/scripts/nix-push.in
index 1343099f..b0cb6d0d 100755
--- a/scripts/nix-push.in
+++ b/scripts/nix-push.in
@@ -41,33 +41,33 @@ for (my $n = 0; $n < scalar @ARGV; $n++) {
         $force = 1;
     } elsif ($arg eq "--dest") {
         $n++;
-        die "$0: `$arg' requires an argument\n" unless $n < scalar @ARGV;
+        die "$0: ‘$arg’ requires an argument\n" unless $n < scalar @ARGV;
         $destDir = $ARGV[$n];
         mkpath($destDir, 0, 0755);
     } elsif ($arg eq "--manifest") {
         $writeManifest = 1;
     } elsif ($arg eq "--manifest-path") {
         $n++;
-        die "$0: `$arg' requires an argument\n" unless $n < scalar @ARGV;
+        die "$0: ‘$arg’ requires an argument\n" unless $n < scalar @ARGV;
         $manifestPath = $ARGV[$n];
         $writeManifest = 1;
         mkpath(dirname($manifestPath), 0, 0755);
     } elsif ($arg eq "--url-prefix") {
         $n++;
-        die "$0: `$arg' requires an argument\n" unless $n < scalar @ARGV;
+        die "$0: ‘$arg’ requires an argument\n" unless $n < scalar @ARGV;
         $archivesURL = $ARGV[$n];
     } elsif ($arg eq "--link") {
         $link = 1;
     } elsif ($arg eq "--key") {
         $n++;
-        die "$0: `$arg' requires an argument\n" unless $n < scalar @ARGV;
+        die "$0: ‘$arg’ requires an argument\n" unless $n < scalar @ARGV;
         $privateKeyFile = $ARGV[$n];
     } elsif ($arg eq "--key-name") {
         $n++;
-        die "$0: `$arg' requires an argument\n" unless $n < scalar @ARGV;
+        die "$0: ‘$arg’ requires an argument\n" unless $n < scalar @ARGV;
         $keyName = $ARGV[$n];
     } elsif (substr($arg, 0, 1) eq "-") {
-        die "$0: unknown flag `$arg'\n";
+        die "$0: unknown flag ‘$arg’\n";
     } else {
         push @roots, $arg;
     }
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ foreach my $storePath (@storePaths) {
     my $pathHash = substr(basename($storePath), 0, 32);
     my $narInfoFile = "$destDir/$pathHash.narinfo";
     if (-e $narInfoFile) {
-        my $narInfo = parseNARInfo($storePath, readFile($narInfoFile), 0, $narInfoFile) or die "cannot read `$narInfoFile'\n";
+        my $narInfo = parseNARInfo($storePath, readFile($narInfoFile), 0, $narInfoFile) or die "cannot read ‘$narInfoFile’\n";
         my $narFile = "$destDir/$narInfo->{url}";
         if (-e $narFile) {
             print STDERR "skipping existing $storePath\n";
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ for (my $n = 0; $n < scalar @storePaths2; $n++) {
         system("$Nix::Config::binDir/nix-store --dump $storePath > $nar") == 0
             or die "cannot dump $storePath\n";
         $narHash = `$Nix::Config::binDir/nix-hash --type sha256 --base32 --flat $nar`;
-        die "cannot hash `$nar'" if $? != 0;
+        die "cannot hash ‘$nar’" if $? != 0;
         chomp $narHash;
         $narHash = "sha256:$narHash";
         $narSize = stat("$nar")->size;
diff --git a/src/download-via-ssh/download-via-ssh.cc b/src/download-via-ssh/download-via-ssh.cc
index 3f6f07f8..d221fa8b 100644
--- a/src/download-via-ssh/download-via-ssh.cc
+++ b/src/download-via-ssh/download-via-ssh.cc
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ static void query(std::pair<FdSink, FdSource> & pipes)
                 std::cout << readLongLong(pipes.second) << std::endl;
             }
         } else
-            throw Error(format("unknown substituter query `%1%'") % cmd);
+            throw Error(format("unknown substituter query ‘%1%’") % cmd);
         std::cout << std::endl;
     }
 }
@@ -132,10 +132,10 @@ int main(int argc, char * * argv)
                 throw UsageError("download-via-ssh: --substitute takes exactly two arguments");
             Path storePath = argv[2];
             Path destPath = argv[3];
-            printMsg(lvlError, format("downloading `%1%' via SSH from `%2%'...") % storePath % host);
+            printMsg(lvlError, format("downloading ‘%1%’ via SSH from ‘%2%’...") % storePath % host);
             substitute(pipes, storePath, destPath);
         }
         else
-            throw UsageError(format("download-via-ssh: unknown command `%1%'") % arg);
+            throw UsageError(format("download-via-ssh: unknown command ‘%1%’") % arg);
     });
 }
diff --git a/src/libexpr/attr-path.cc b/src/libexpr/attr-path.cc
index 4f28a549..fdd61a5f 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/attr-path.cc
+++ b/src/libexpr/attr-path.cc
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ static Strings parseAttrPath(const string & s)
             ++i;
             while (1) {
                 if (i == s.end())
-                    throw Error(format("missing closing quote in selection path `%1%'") % s);
+                    throw Error(format("missing closing quote in selection path ‘%1%’") % s);
                 if (*i == '"') break;
                 cur.push_back(*i++);
             }
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ Value * findAlongAttrPath(EvalState & state, const string & attrPath,
     Strings tokens = parseAttrPath(attrPath);
 
     Error attrError =
-        Error(format("attribute selection path `%1%' does not match expression") % attrPath);
+        Error(format("attribute selection path ‘%1%’ does not match expression") % attrPath);
 
     Value * v = &vIn;
 
@@ -63,15 +63,15 @@ Value * findAlongAttrPath(EvalState & state, const string & attrPath,
 
             if (v->type != tAttrs)
                 throw TypeError(
-                    format("the expression selected by the selection path `%1%' should be a set but is %2%")
+                    format("the expression selected by the selection path ‘%1%’ should be a set but is %2%")
                     % attrPath % showType(*v));
 
             if (attr.empty())
-                throw Error(format("empty attribute name in selection path `%1%'") % attrPath);
+                throw Error(format("empty attribute name in selection path ‘%1%’") % attrPath);
 
             Bindings::iterator a = v->attrs->find(state.symbols.create(attr));
             if (a == v->attrs->end())
-                throw Error(format("attribute `%1%' in selection path `%2%' not found") % attr % attrPath);
+                throw Error(format("attribute ‘%1%’ in selection path ‘%2%’ not found") % attr % attrPath);
             v = &*a->value;
         }
 
@@ -79,11 +79,11 @@ Value * findAlongAttrPath(EvalState & state, const string & attrPath,
 
             if (v->type != tList)
                 throw TypeError(
-                    format("the expression selected by the selection path `%1%' should be a list but is %2%")
+                    format("the expression selected by the selection path ‘%1%’ should be a list but is %2%")
                     % attrPath % showType(*v));
 
             if (attrIndex >= v->list.length)
-                throw Error(format("list index %1% in selection path `%2%' is out of range") % attrIndex % attrPath);
+                throw Error(format("list index %1% in selection path ‘%2%’ is out of range") % attrIndex % attrPath);
 
             v = v->list.elems[attrIndex];
         }
diff --git a/src/libexpr/common-opts.cc b/src/libexpr/common-opts.cc
index 2e8bb29c..25f1e711 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/common-opts.cc
+++ b/src/libexpr/common-opts.cc
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ bool parseAutoArgs(Strings::iterator & i,
     string arg = *i;
     if (arg != "--arg" && arg != "--argstr") return false;
 
-    UsageError error(format("`%1%' requires two arguments") % arg);
+    UsageError error(format("‘%1%’ requires two arguments") % arg);
 
     if (++i == argsEnd) throw error;
     string name = *i;
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ bool parseSearchPathArg(Strings::iterator & i,
     const Strings::iterator & argsEnd, Strings & searchPath)
 {
     if (*i != "-I") return false;
-    if (++i == argsEnd) throw UsageError("`-I' requires an argument");
+    if (++i == argsEnd) throw UsageError("‘-I’ requires an argument");
     searchPath.push_back(*i);
     return true;
 }
diff --git a/src/libexpr/eval.cc b/src/libexpr/eval.cc
index b752e1c7..5cb6fc3c 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/eval.cc
+++ b/src/libexpr/eval.cc
@@ -396,7 +396,7 @@ inline Value * EvalState::lookupVar(Env * env, const ExprVar & var, bool noEval)
             return j->value;
         }
         if (!env->prevWith)
-            throwUndefinedVarError("undefined variable `%1%' at %2%", var.name, var.pos);
+            throwUndefinedVarError("undefined variable ‘%1%’ at %2%", var.name, var.pos);
         for (unsigned int l = env->prevWith; l; --l, env = env->up) ;
     }
 }
@@ -537,12 +537,12 @@ void EvalState::evalFile(const Path & path, Value & v)
         return;
     }
 
-    startNest(nest, lvlTalkative, format("evaluating file `%1%'") % path2);
+    startNest(nest, lvlTalkative, format("evaluating file ‘%1%’") % path2);
     Expr * e = parseExprFromFile(path2);
     try {
         eval(e, v);
     } catch (Error & e) {
-        addErrorPrefix(e, "while evaluating the file `%1%':\n", path2);
+        addErrorPrefix(e, "while evaluating the file ‘%1%’:\n", path2);
         throw;
     }
 
@@ -686,7 +686,7 @@ void ExprAttrs::eval(EvalState & state, Env & env, Value & v)
         Symbol nameSym = state.symbols.create(nameVal.string.s);
         Bindings::iterator j = v.attrs->find(nameSym);
         if (j != v.attrs->end())
-            throwEvalError("dynamic attribute `%1%' at %2% already defined at %3%", nameSym, i->pos, *j->pos);
+            throwEvalError("dynamic attribute ‘%1%’ at %2% already defined at %3%", nameSym, i->pos, *j->pos);
 
         i->valueExpr->setName(nameSym);
         /* Keep sorted order so find can catch duplicates */
@@ -764,7 +764,7 @@ void ExprSelect::eval(EvalState & state, Env & env, Value & v)
                     staticPath.push_back(AttrName(getName(*j, state, env)));
                     for (j = j + 1; j != attrPath.end(); ++j)
                         staticPath.push_back(*j);
-                    throwEvalError("attribute `%1%' missing, at %2%", showAttrPath(staticPath), pos);
+                    throwEvalError("attribute ‘%1%’ missing, at %2%", showAttrPath(staticPath), pos);
                 }
             }
             vAttrs = j->value;
@@ -776,7 +776,7 @@ void ExprSelect::eval(EvalState & state, Env & env, Value & v)
 
     } catch (Error & e) {
         if (pos2 && pos2->file != state.sDerivationNix)
-            addErrorPrefix(e, "while evaluating the attribute `%1%' at %2%:\n",
+            addErrorPrefix(e, "while evaluating the attribute ‘%1%’ at %2%:\n",
                 showAttrPath(attrPath), *pos2);
         throw;
     }
@@ -900,7 +900,7 @@ void EvalState::callFunction(Value & fun, Value & arg, Value & v, const Pos & po
         foreach (Formals::Formals_::iterator, i, lambda.formals->formals) {
             Bindings::iterator j = arg.attrs->find(i->name);
             if (j == arg.attrs->end()) {
-                if (!i->def) throwTypeError("%1% called without required argument `%2%', at %3%",
+                if (!i->def) throwTypeError("%1% called without required argument ‘%2%’, at %3%",
                     lambda, i->name, pos);
                 env2.values[displ++] = i->def->maybeThunk(*this, env2);
             } else {
@@ -916,7 +916,7 @@ void EvalState::callFunction(Value & fun, Value & arg, Value & v, const Pos & po
                user. */
             foreach (Bindings::iterator, i, *arg.attrs)
                 if (lambda.formals->argNames.find(i->name) == lambda.formals->argNames.end())
-                    throwTypeError("%1% called with unexpected argument `%2%', at %3%", lambda, i->name, pos);
+                    throwTypeError("%1% called with unexpected argument ‘%2%’, at %3%", lambda, i->name, pos);
             abort(); // can't happen
         }
     }
@@ -963,7 +963,7 @@ void EvalState::autoCallFunction(Bindings & args, Value & fun, Value & res)
         if (j != args.end())
             actualArgs->attrs->push_back(*j);
         else if (!i->def)
-            throwTypeError("cannot auto-call a function that has an argument without a default value (`%1%')", i->name);
+            throwTypeError("cannot auto-call a function that has an argument without a default value (‘%1%’)", i->name);
     }
 
     actualArgs->attrs->sort();
@@ -1233,10 +1233,10 @@ string EvalState::forceStringNoCtx(Value & v, const Pos & pos)
     string s = forceString(v, pos);
     if (v.string.context) {
         if (pos)
-            throwEvalError("the string `%1%' is not allowed to refer to a store path (such as `%2%'), at %3%",
+            throwEvalError("the string ‘%1%’ is not allowed to refer to a store path (such as ‘%2%’), at %3%",
                 v.string.s, v.string.context[0], pos);
         else
-            throwEvalError("the string `%1%' is not allowed to refer to a store path (such as `%2%')",
+            throwEvalError("the string ‘%1%’ is not allowed to refer to a store path (such as ‘%2%’)",
                 v.string.s, v.string.context[0]);
     }
     return s;
@@ -1307,7 +1307,7 @@ string EvalState::coerceToString(const Pos & pos, Value & v, PathSet & context,
 string EvalState::copyPathToStore(PathSet & context, const Path & path)
 {
     if (nix::isDerivation(path))
-        throwEvalError("file names are not allowed to end in `%1%'", drvExtension);
+        throwEvalError("file names are not allowed to end in ‘%1%’", drvExtension);
 
     Path dstPath;
     if (srcToStore[path] != "")
@@ -1317,7 +1317,7 @@ string EvalState::copyPathToStore(PathSet & context, const Path & path)
             ? computeStorePathForPath(path).first
             : store->addToStore(path, true, htSHA256, defaultPathFilter, repair);
         srcToStore[path] = dstPath;
-        printMsg(lvlChatty, format("copied source `%1%' -> `%2%'")
+        printMsg(lvlChatty, format("copied source ‘%1%’ -> ‘%2%’")
             % path % dstPath);
     }
 
@@ -1330,7 +1330,7 @@ Path EvalState::coerceToPath(const Pos & pos, Value & v, PathSet & context)
 {
     string path = coerceToString(pos, v, context, false, false);
     if (path == "" || path[0] != '/')
-        throwEvalError("string `%1%' doesn't represent an absolute path, at %1%", path, pos);
+        throwEvalError("string ‘%1%’ doesn't represent an absolute path, at %1%", path, pos);
     return path;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/libexpr/get-drvs.cc b/src/libexpr/get-drvs.cc
index 57b87ab5..db91eab3 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/get-drvs.cc
+++ b/src/libexpr/get-drvs.cc
@@ -259,7 +259,7 @@ static void getDerivations(EvalState & state, Value & vIn,
             attrs.insert(std::pair<string, Symbol>(i->name, i->name));
 
         foreach (SortedSymbols::iterator, i, attrs) {
-            startNest(nest, lvlDebug, format("evaluating attribute `%1%'") % i->first);
+            startNest(nest, lvlDebug, format("evaluating attribute ‘%1%’") % i->first);
             string pathPrefix2 = addToPath(pathPrefix, i->first);
             Value & v2(*v.attrs->find(i->second)->value);
             if (combineChannels)
diff --git a/src/libexpr/json-to-value.cc b/src/libexpr/json-to-value.cc
index 7f60e7cc..af4394b0 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/json-to-value.cc
+++ b/src/libexpr/json-to-value.cc
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ static void parseJSON(EvalState & state, const char * & s, Value & v)
             values.push_back(v2);
             skipWhitespace(s);
             if (*s == ']') break;
-            if (*s != ',') throw JSONParseError("expected `,' or `]' after JSON array element");
+            if (*s != ',') throw JSONParseError("expected ‘,’ or ‘]’ after JSON array element");
             s++;
         }
         s++;
@@ -82,14 +82,14 @@ static void parseJSON(EvalState & state, const char * & s, Value & v)
             if (v.attrs->empty() && *s == '}') break;
             string name = parseJSONString(s);
             skipWhitespace(s);
-            if (*s != ':') throw JSONParseError("expected `:' in JSON object");
+            if (*s != ':') throw JSONParseError("expected ‘:’ in JSON object");
             s++;
             Value * v2 = state.allocValue();
             parseJSON(state, s, *v2);
             v.attrs->push_back(Attr(state.symbols.create(name), v2));
             skipWhitespace(s);
             if (*s == '}') break;
-            if (*s != ',') throw JSONParseError("expected `,' or `}' after JSON member");
+            if (*s != ',') throw JSONParseError("expected ‘,’ or ‘}’ after JSON member");
             s++;
         }
         v.attrs->sort();
diff --git a/src/libexpr/lexer.l b/src/libexpr/lexer.l
index 911850cc..82520ee7 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/lexer.l
+++ b/src/libexpr/lexer.l
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ or          { return OR_KW; }
 {INT}       { errno = 0;
               yylval->n = strtol(yytext, 0, 10);
               if (errno != 0)
-                  throw ParseError(format("invalid integer `%1%'") % yytext);
+                  throw ParseError(format("invalid integer ‘%1%’") % yytext);
               return INT;
             }
 
diff --git a/src/libexpr/nixexpr.cc b/src/libexpr/nixexpr.cc
index bb72c007..c8521718 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/nixexpr.cc
+++ b/src/libexpr/nixexpr.cc
@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@ void ExprVar::bindVars(const StaticEnv & env)
     /* Otherwise, the variable must be obtained from the nearest
        enclosing `with'.  If there is no `with', then we can issue an
        "undefined variable" error now. */
-    if (withLevel == -1) throw UndefinedVarError(format("undefined variable `%1%' at %2%") % name % pos);
+    if (withLevel == -1) throw UndefinedVarError(format("undefined variable ‘%1%’ at %2%") % name % pos);
 
     fromWith = true;
     this->level = withLevel;
@@ -364,7 +364,7 @@ void ExprLambda::setName(Symbol & name)
 
 string ExprLambda::showNamePos() const
 {
-    return (format("%1% at %2%") % (name.set() ? "`" + (string) name + "'" : "anonymous function") % pos).str();
+    return (format("%1% at %2%") % (name.set() ? "‘" + (string) name + "’" : "anonymous function") % pos).str();
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/libexpr/nixexpr.hh b/src/libexpr/nixexpr.hh
index 9c631d09..2619a702 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/nixexpr.hh
+++ b/src/libexpr/nixexpr.hh
@@ -224,7 +224,7 @@ struct ExprLambda : Expr
         : pos(pos), arg(arg), matchAttrs(matchAttrs), formals(formals), body(body)
     {
         if (!arg.empty() && formals && formals->argNames.find(arg) != formals->argNames.end())
-            throw ParseError(format("duplicate formal function argument `%1%' at %2%")
+            throw ParseError(format("duplicate formal function argument ‘%1%’ at %2%")
                 % arg % pos);
     };
     void setName(Symbol & name);
diff --git a/src/libexpr/parser.y b/src/libexpr/parser.y
index a19269b3..60a87ca9 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/parser.y
+++ b/src/libexpr/parser.y
@@ -67,14 +67,14 @@ namespace nix {
 
 static void dupAttr(const AttrPath & attrPath, const Pos & pos, const Pos & prevPos)
 {
-    throw ParseError(format("attribute `%1%' at %2% already defined at %3%")
+    throw ParseError(format("attribute ‘%1%’ at %2% already defined at %3%")
         % showAttrPath(attrPath) % pos % prevPos);
 }
 
 
 static void dupAttr(Symbol attr, const Pos & pos, const Pos & prevPos)
 {
-    throw ParseError(format("attribute `%1%' at %2% already defined at %3%")
+    throw ParseError(format("attribute ‘%1%’ at %2% already defined at %3%")
         % attr % pos % prevPos);
 }
 
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ static void addAttr(ExprAttrs * attrs, AttrPath & attrPath,
 static void addFormal(const Pos & pos, Formals * formals, const Formal & formal)
 {
     if (formals->argNames.find(formal.name) != formals->argNames.end())
-        throw ParseError(format("duplicate formal function argument `%1%' at %2%")
+        throw ParseError(format("duplicate formal function argument ‘%1%’ at %2%")
             % formal.name % pos);
     formals->formals.push_front(formal);
     formals->argNames.insert(formal.name);
@@ -570,7 +570,7 @@ Path resolveExprPath(Path path)
     struct stat st;
     while (true) {
         if (lstat(path.c_str(), &st))
-            throw SysError(format("getting status of `%1%'") % path);
+            throw SysError(format("getting status of ‘%1%’") % path);
         if (!S_ISLNK(st.st_mode)) break;
         path = absPath(readLink(path), dirOf(path));
     }
@@ -621,10 +621,10 @@ void EvalState::addToSearchPath(const string & s, bool warn)
 
     path = absPath(path);
     if (pathExists(path)) {
-        debug(format("adding path `%1%' to the search path") % path);
+        debug(format("adding path ‘%1%’ to the search path") % path);
         searchPath.push_back(std::pair<string, Path>(prefix, path));
     } else if (warn)
-        printMsg(lvlError, format("warning: Nix search path entry `%1%' does not exist, ignoring") % path);
+        printMsg(lvlError, format("warning: Nix search path entry ‘%1%’ does not exist, ignoring") % path);
 }
 
 
@@ -649,7 +649,7 @@ Path EvalState::findFile(SearchPath & searchPath, const string & path)
         }
         if (pathExists(res)) return canonPath(res);
     }
-    throw ThrownError(format("file `%1%' was not found in the Nix search path (add it using $NIX_PATH or -I)") % path);
+    throw ThrownError(format("file ‘%1%’ was not found in the Nix search path (add it using $NIX_PATH or -I)") % path);
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/libexpr/primops.cc b/src/libexpr/primops.cc
index 4436b636..0c4381b1 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/primops.cc
+++ b/src/libexpr/primops.cc
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ struct InvalidPathError : EvalError
 {
     Path path;
     InvalidPathError(const Path & path) :
-        EvalError(format("path `%1%' is not valid") % path), path(path) {};
+        EvalError(format("path ‘%1%’ is not valid") % path), path(path) {};
     ~InvalidPathError() throw () { };
 };
 
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ static void prim_scopedImport(EvalState & state, const Pos & pos, Value * * args
     try {
         realiseContext(context);
     } catch (InvalidPathError & e) {
-        throw EvalError(format("cannot import `%1%', since path `%2%' is not valid, at %3%")
+        throw EvalError(format("cannot import ‘%1%’, since path ‘%2%’ is not valid, at %3%")
             % path % e.path % pos);
     }
 
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ static void prim_scopedImport(EvalState & state, const Pos & pos, Value * * args
                 env->values[displ++] = attr.value;
             }
 
-            startNest(nest, lvlTalkative, format("evaluating file `%1%'") % path);
+            startNest(nest, lvlTalkative, format("evaluating file ‘%1%’") % path);
             Expr * e = state.parseExprFromFile(resolveExprPath(path), staticEnv);
 
             e->eval(state, *env, v);
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ static void prim_importNative(EvalState & state, const Pos & pos, Value * * args
     try {
         realiseContext(context);
     } catch (InvalidPathError & e) {
-        throw EvalError(format("cannot import `%1%', since path `%2%' is not valid, at %3%")
+        throw EvalError(format("cannot import ‘%1%’, since path ‘%2%’ is not valid, at %3%")
             % path % e.path % pos);
     }
 
@@ -153,16 +153,16 @@ static void prim_importNative(EvalState & state, const Pos & pos, Value * * args
 
     void *handle = dlopen(path.c_str(), RTLD_LAZY | RTLD_LOCAL);
     if (!handle)
-        throw EvalError(format("could not open `%1%': %2%") % path % dlerror());
+        throw EvalError(format("could not open ‘%1%’: %2%") % path % dlerror());
 
     dlerror();
     ValueInitializer func = (ValueInitializer) dlsym(handle, sym.c_str());
     if(!func) {
         char *message = dlerror();
         if (message)
-            throw EvalError(format("could not load symbol `%1%' from `%2%': %3%") % sym % path % message);
+            throw EvalError(format("could not load symbol ‘%1%’ from ‘%2%’: %3%") % sym % path % message);
         else
-            throw EvalError(format("symbol `%1%' from `%2%' resolved to NULL when a function pointer was expected")
+            throw EvalError(format("symbol ‘%1%’ from ‘%2%’ resolved to NULL when a function pointer was expected")
                     % sym % path);
     }
 
@@ -273,7 +273,7 @@ static void prim_genericClosure(EvalState & state, const Pos & pos, Value * * ar
     Bindings::iterator startSet =
         args[0]->attrs->find(state.symbols.create("startSet"));
     if (startSet == args[0]->attrs->end())
-        throw EvalError(format("attribute `startSet' required, at %1%") % pos);
+        throw EvalError(format("attribute ‘startSet’ required, at %1%") % pos);
     state.forceList(*startSet->value, pos);
 
     ValueList workSet;
@@ -284,7 +284,7 @@ static void prim_genericClosure(EvalState & state, const Pos & pos, Value * * ar
     Bindings::iterator op =
         args[0]->attrs->find(state.symbols.create("operator"));
     if (op == args[0]->attrs->end())
-        throw EvalError(format("attribute `operator' required, at %1%") % pos);
+        throw EvalError(format("attribute ‘operator’ required, at %1%") % pos);
     state.forceValue(*op->value);
 
     /* Construct the closure by applying the operator to element of
@@ -303,7 +303,7 @@ static void prim_genericClosure(EvalState & state, const Pos & pos, Value * * ar
         Bindings::iterator key =
             e->attrs->find(state.symbols.create("key"));
         if (key == e->attrs->end())
-            throw EvalError(format("attribute `key' required, at %1%") % pos);
+            throw EvalError(format("attribute ‘key’ required, at %1%") % pos);
         state.forceValue(*key->value);
 
         if (doneKeys.find(key->value) != doneKeys.end()) continue;
@@ -333,7 +333,7 @@ static void prim_genericClosure(EvalState & state, const Pos & pos, Value * * ar
 static void prim_abort(EvalState & state, const Pos & pos, Value * * args, Value & v)
 {
     PathSet context;
-    throw Abort(format("evaluation aborted with the following error message: `%1%'") %
+    throw Abort(format("evaluation aborted with the following error message: ‘%1%’") %
         state.coerceToString(pos, *args[0], context));
 }
 
@@ -418,13 +418,13 @@ static void prim_derivationStrict(EvalState & state, const Pos & pos, Value * *
     /* Figure out the name first (for stack backtraces). */
     Bindings::iterator attr = args[0]->attrs->find(state.sName);
     if (attr == args[0]->attrs->end())
-        throw EvalError(format("required attribute `name' missing, at %1%") % pos);
+        throw EvalError(format("required attribute ‘name’ missing, at %1%") % pos);
     string drvName;
     Pos & posDrvName(*attr->pos);
     try {
         drvName = state.forceStringNoCtx(*attr->value, pos);
     } catch (Error & e) {
-        e.addPrefix(format("while evaluating the derivation attribute `name' at %1%:\n") % posDrvName);
+        e.addPrefix(format("while evaluating the derivation attribute ‘name’ at %1%:\n") % posDrvName);
         throw;
     }
 
@@ -448,7 +448,7 @@ static void prim_derivationStrict(EvalState & state, const Pos & pos, Value * *
     foreach (Bindings::iterator, i, *args[0]->attrs) {
         if (i->name == state.sIgnoreNulls) continue;
         string key = i->name;
-        startNest(nest, lvlVomit, format("processing attribute `%1%'") % key);
+        startNest(nest, lvlVomit, format("processing attribute ‘%1%’") % key);
 
         try {
 
@@ -476,28 +476,28 @@ static void prim_derivationStrict(EvalState & state, const Pos & pos, Value * *
                 else if (i->name == state.sSystem) drv.platform = s;
                 else if (i->name == state.sName) {
                     drvName = s;
-                    printMsg(lvlVomit, format("derivation name is `%1%'") % drvName);
+                    printMsg(lvlVomit, format("derivation name is ‘%1%’") % drvName);
                 }
                 else if (key == "outputHash") outputHash = s;
                 else if (key == "outputHashAlgo") outputHashAlgo = s;
                 else if (key == "outputHashMode") {
                     if (s == "recursive") outputHashRecursive = true;
                     else if (s == "flat") outputHashRecursive = false;
-                    else throw EvalError(format("invalid value `%1%' for `outputHashMode' attribute, at %2%") % s % posDrvName);
+                    else throw EvalError(format("invalid value ‘%1%’ for ‘outputHashMode’ attribute, at %2%") % s % posDrvName);
                 }
                 else if (key == "outputs") {
                     Strings tmp = tokenizeString<Strings>(s);
                     outputs.clear();
                     foreach (Strings::iterator, j, tmp) {
                         if (outputs.find(*j) != outputs.end())
-                            throw EvalError(format("duplicate derivation output `%1%', at %2%") % *j % posDrvName);
+                            throw EvalError(format("duplicate derivation output ‘%1%’, at %2%") % *j % posDrvName);
                         /* !!! Check whether *j is a valid attribute
                            name. */
                         /* Derivations cannot be named ‘drv’, because
                            then we'd have an attribute ‘drvPath’ in
                            the resulting set. */
                         if (*j == "drv")
-                            throw EvalError(format("invalid derivation output name `drv', at %1%") % posDrvName);
+                            throw EvalError(format("invalid derivation output name ‘drv’, at %1%") % posDrvName);
                         outputs.insert(*j);
                     }
                     if (outputs.empty())
@@ -506,7 +506,7 @@ static void prim_derivationStrict(EvalState & state, const Pos & pos, Value * *
             }
 
         } catch (Error & e) {
-            e.addPrefix(format("while evaluating the attribute `%1%' of the derivation `%2%' at %3%:\n")
+            e.addPrefix(format("while evaluating the attribute ‘%1%’ of the derivation ‘%2%’ at %3%:\n")
                 % key % drvName % posDrvName);
             throw;
         }
@@ -557,14 +557,14 @@ static void prim_derivationStrict(EvalState & state, const Pos & pos, Value * *
 
     /* Do we have all required attributes? */
     if (drv.builder == "")
-        throw EvalError(format("required attribute `builder' missing, at %1%") % posDrvName);
+        throw EvalError(format("required attribute ‘builder’ missing, at %1%") % posDrvName);
     if (drv.platform == "")
-        throw EvalError(format("required attribute `system' missing, at %1%") % posDrvName);
+        throw EvalError(format("required attribute ‘system’ missing, at %1%") % posDrvName);
 
     /* Check whether the derivation name is valid. */
     checkStoreName(drvName);
     if (isDerivation(drvName))
-        throw EvalError(format("derivation names are not allowed to end in `%1%', at %2%")
+        throw EvalError(format("derivation names are not allowed to end in ‘%1%’, at %2%")
             % drvExtension % posDrvName);
 
     if (outputHash != "") {
@@ -574,7 +574,7 @@ static void prim_derivationStrict(EvalState & state, const Pos & pos, Value * *
 
         HashType ht = parseHashType(outputHashAlgo);
         if (ht == htUnknown)
-            throw EvalError(format("unknown hash algorithm `%1%', at %2%") % outputHashAlgo % posDrvName);
+            throw EvalError(format("unknown hash algorithm ‘%1%’, at %2%") % outputHashAlgo % posDrvName);
         Hash h = parseHash16or32(ht, outputHash);
         outputHash = printHash(h);
         if (outputHashRecursive) outputHashAlgo = "r:" + outputHashAlgo;
@@ -610,7 +610,7 @@ static void prim_derivationStrict(EvalState & state, const Pos & pos, Value * *
     /* Write the resulting term into the Nix store directory. */
     Path drvPath = writeDerivation(*store, drv, drvName, state.repair);
 
-    printMsg(lvlChatty, format("instantiated `%1%' -> `%2%'")
+    printMsg(lvlChatty, format("instantiated ‘%1%’ -> ‘%2%’")
         % drvName % drvPath);
 
     /* Optimisation, but required in read-only mode! because in that
@@ -659,7 +659,7 @@ static void prim_storePath(EvalState & state, const Pos & pos, Value * * args, V
        e.g. nix-push does the right thing. */
     if (!isStorePath(path)) path = canonPath(path, true);
     if (!isInStore(path))
-        throw EvalError(format("path `%1%' is not in the Nix store, at %2%") % path % pos);
+        throw EvalError(format("path ‘%1%’ is not in the Nix store, at %2%") % path % pos);
     Path path2 = toStorePath(path);
     if (!settings.readOnlyMode)
         store->ensurePath(path2);
@@ -673,7 +673,7 @@ static void prim_pathExists(EvalState & state, const Pos & pos, Value * * args,
     PathSet context;
     Path path = state.coerceToPath(pos, *args[0], context);
     if (!context.empty())
-        throw EvalError(format("string `%1%' cannot refer to other paths, at %2%") % path % pos);
+        throw EvalError(format("string ‘%1%’ cannot refer to other paths, at %2%") % path % pos);
     mkBool(v, pathExists(path));
 }
 
@@ -704,7 +704,7 @@ static void prim_readFile(EvalState & state, const Pos & pos, Value * * args, Va
     PathSet context;
     Path path = state.coerceToPath(pos, *args[0], context);
     if (!context.empty())
-        throw EvalError(format("string `%1%' cannot refer to other paths, at %2%") % path % pos);
+        throw EvalError(format("string ‘%1%’ cannot refer to other paths, at %2%") % path % pos);
     mkString(v, readFile(path).c_str());
 }
 
@@ -729,7 +729,7 @@ static void prim_findFile(EvalState & state, const Pos & pos, Value * * args, Va
 
         i = v2.attrs->find(state.symbols.create("path"));
         if (i == v2.attrs->end())
-            throw EvalError(format("attribute `path' missing, at %1%") % pos);
+            throw EvalError(format("attribute ‘path’ missing, at %1%") % pos);
         string path = state.coerceToPath(pos, *i->value, context);
 
         searchPath.push_back(std::pair<string, Path>(prefix, path));
@@ -740,7 +740,7 @@ static void prim_findFile(EvalState & state, const Pos & pos, Value * * args, Va
     try {
         realiseContext(context);
     } catch (InvalidPathError & e) {
-        throw EvalError(format("cannot find `%1%', since path `%2%' is not valid, at %3%")
+        throw EvalError(format("cannot find ‘%1%’, since path ‘%2%’ is not valid, at %3%")
             % path % e.path % pos);
     }
 
@@ -799,7 +799,7 @@ static void prim_toFile(EvalState & state, const Pos & pos, Value * * args, Valu
         Path path = *i;
         if (path.at(0) == '=') path = string(path, 1);
         if (isDerivation(path))
-            throw EvalError(format("in `toFile': the file `%1%' cannot refer to derivation outputs, at %2%") % name % pos);
+            throw EvalError(format("in ‘toFile’: the file ‘%1%’ cannot refer to derivation outputs, at %2%") % name % pos);
         refs.insert(path);
     }
 
@@ -829,7 +829,7 @@ struct FilterFromExpr : PathFilter
     {
         struct stat st;
         if (lstat(path.c_str(), &st))
-            throw SysError(format("getting attributes of path `%1%'") % path);
+            throw SysError(format("getting attributes of path ‘%1%’") % path);
 
         /* Call the filter function.  The first argument is the path,
            the second is a string indicating the type of the file. */
@@ -859,11 +859,11 @@ static void prim_filterSource(EvalState & state, const Pos & pos, Value * * args
     PathSet context;
     Path path = state.coerceToPath(pos, *args[1], context);
     if (!context.empty())
-        throw EvalError(format("string `%1%' cannot refer to other paths, at %2%") % path % pos);
+        throw EvalError(format("string ‘%1%’ cannot refer to other paths, at %2%") % path % pos);
 
     state.forceValue(*args[0]);
     if (args[0]->type != tLambda)
-        throw TypeError(format("first argument in call to `filterSource' is not a function but %1%, at %2%") % showType(*args[0]) % pos);
+        throw TypeError(format("first argument in call to ‘filterSource’ is not a function but %1%, at %2%") % showType(*args[0]) % pos);
 
     FilterFromExpr filter(state, *args[0]);
 
@@ -906,7 +906,7 @@ void prim_getAttr(EvalState & state, const Pos & pos, Value * * args, Value & v)
     // !!! Should we create a symbol here or just do a lookup?
     Bindings::iterator i = args[1]->attrs->find(state.symbols.create(attr));
     if (i == args[1]->attrs->end())
-        throw EvalError(format("attribute `%1%' missing, at %2%") % attr % pos);
+        throw EvalError(format("attribute ‘%1%’ missing, at %2%") % attr % pos);
     // !!! add to stack trace?
     if (state.countCalls && i->pos) state.attrSelects[*i->pos]++;
     state.forceValue(*i->value);
@@ -986,14 +986,14 @@ static void prim_listToAttrs(EvalState & state, const Pos & pos, Value * * args,
 
         Bindings::iterator j = v2.attrs->find(state.sName);
         if (j == v2.attrs->end())
-            throw TypeError(format("`name' attribute missing in a call to `listToAttrs', at %1%") % pos);
+            throw TypeError(format("‘name’ attribute missing in a call to ‘listToAttrs’, at %1%") % pos);
         string name = state.forceStringNoCtx(*j->value, pos);
 
         Symbol sym = state.symbols.create(name);
         if (seen.find(sym) == seen.end()) {
             Bindings::iterator j2 = v2.attrs->find(state.symbols.create(state.sValue));
             if (j2 == v2.attrs->end())
-                throw TypeError(format("`value' attribute missing in a call to `listToAttrs', at %1%") % pos);
+                throw TypeError(format("‘value’ attribute missing in a call to ‘listToAttrs’, at %1%") % pos);
 
             v.attrs->push_back(Attr(sym, j2->value, j2->pos));
             seen.insert(sym);
@@ -1039,7 +1039,7 @@ static void prim_functionArgs(EvalState & state, const Pos & pos, Value * * args
 {
     state.forceValue(*args[0]);
     if (args[0]->type != tLambda)
-        throw TypeError(format("`functionArgs' requires a function, at %1%") % pos);
+        throw TypeError(format("‘functionArgs’ requires a function, at %1%") % pos);
 
     if (!args[0]->lambda.fun->matchAttrs) {
         state.mkAttrs(v, 0);
@@ -1098,7 +1098,7 @@ static void prim_tail(EvalState & state, const Pos & pos, Value * * args, Value
 {
     state.forceList(*args[0], pos);
     if (args[0]->list.length == 0)
-        throw Error(format("`tail' called on an empty list, at %1%") % pos);
+        throw Error(format("‘tail’ called on an empty list, at %1%") % pos);
     state.mkList(v, args[0]->list.length - 1);
     for (unsigned int n = 0; n < v.list.length; ++n)
         v.list.elems[n] = args[0]->list.elems[n + 1];
@@ -1247,7 +1247,7 @@ static void prim_substring(EvalState & state, const Pos & pos, Value * * args, V
     PathSet context;
     string s = state.coerceToString(pos, *args[2], context);
 
-    if (start < 0) throw EvalError(format("negative start position in `substring', at %1%") % pos);
+    if (start < 0) throw EvalError(format("negative start position in ‘substring’, at %1%") % pos);
 
     mkString(v, (unsigned int) start >= s.size() ? "" : string(s, start, len), context);
 }
@@ -1297,7 +1297,7 @@ static void prim_hashString(EvalState & state, const Pos & pos, Value * * args,
     string type = state.forceStringNoCtx(*args[0], pos);
     HashType ht = parseHashType(type);
     if (ht == htUnknown)
-      throw Error(format("unknown hash type `%1%', at %2%") % type % pos);
+      throw Error(format("unknown hash type ‘%1%’, at %2%") % type % pos);
 
     PathSet context; // discarded
     string s = state.forceString(*args[1], context);
diff --git a/src/libmain/shared.cc b/src/libmain/shared.cc
index 73087524..263e1744 100644
--- a/src/libmain/shared.cc
+++ b/src/libmain/shared.cc
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ void printGCWarning()
     if (!gcWarning) return;
     static bool haveWarned = false;
     warnOnce(haveWarned,
-        "you did not specify `--add-root'; "
+        "you did not specify ‘--add-root’; "
         "the result might be removed by the garbage collector");
 }
 
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ string getArg(const string & opt,
     Strings::iterator & i, const Strings::iterator & end)
 {
     ++i;
-    if (i == end) throw UsageError(format("`%1%' requires an argument") % opt);
+    if (i == end) throw UsageError(format("‘%1%’ requires an argument") % opt);
     return *i;
 }
 
@@ -214,15 +214,15 @@ void parseCmdLine(int argc, char * * argv,
         else if (arg == "--no-gc-warning")
             gcWarning = false;
         else if (arg == "--option") {
-            ++i; if (i == args.end()) throw UsageError("`--option' requires two arguments");
+            ++i; if (i == args.end()) throw UsageError("‘--option’ requires two arguments");
             string name = *i;
-            ++i; if (i == args.end()) throw UsageError("`--option' requires two arguments");
+            ++i; if (i == args.end()) throw UsageError("‘--option’ requires two arguments");
             string value = *i;
             settings.set(name, value);
         }
         else {
             if (!parseArg(i, args.end()))
-                throw UsageError(format("unrecognised option `%1%'") % *i);
+                throw UsageError(format("unrecognised option ‘%1%’") % *i);
         }
     }
 
@@ -241,7 +241,7 @@ void showManPage(const string & name)
 {
     restoreSIGPIPE();
     execlp("man", "man", name.c_str(), NULL);
-    throw SysError(format("command `man %1%' failed") % name.c_str());
+    throw SysError(format("command ‘man %1%’ failed") % name.c_str());
 }
 
 
@@ -264,13 +264,13 @@ int handleExceptions(const string & programName, std::function<void()> fun)
         return e.status;
     } catch (UsageError & e) {
         printMsg(lvlError,
-            format(error + " %1%\nTry `%2% --help' for more information.")
+            format(error + " %1%\nTry ‘%2% --help’ for more information.")
             % e.what() % programName);
         return 1;
     } catch (BaseError & e) {
         printMsg(lvlError, format(error + "%1%%2%") % (settings.showTrace ? e.prefix() : "") % e.msg());
         if (e.prefix() != "" && !settings.showTrace)
-            printMsg(lvlError, "(use `--show-trace' to show detailed location information)");
+            printMsg(lvlError, "(use ‘--show-trace’ to show detailed location information)");
         return e.status;
     } catch (std::bad_alloc & e) {
         printMsg(lvlError, error + "out of memory");
@@ -306,7 +306,7 @@ RunPager::RunPager()
         if (dup2(toPager.readSide, STDIN_FILENO) == -1)
             throw SysError("dupping stdin");
         execl("/bin/sh", "sh", "-c", pager.c_str(), NULL);
-        throw SysError(format("executing `%1%'") % pager);
+        throw SysError(format("executing ‘%1%’") % pager);
     });
 
     if (dup2(toPager.writeSide, STDOUT_FILENO) == -1)
diff --git a/src/libmain/shared.hh b/src/libmain/shared.hh
index c56203da..b662c6cc 100644
--- a/src/libmain/shared.hh
+++ b/src/libmain/shared.hh
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ template<class N> N getIntArg(const string & opt,
     Strings::iterator & i, const Strings::iterator & end, bool allowUnit)
 {
     ++i;
-    if (i == end) throw UsageError(format("`%1%' requires an argument") % opt);
+    if (i == end) throw UsageError(format("‘%1%’ requires an argument") % opt);
     string s = *i;
     N multiplier = 1;
     if (allowUnit && !s.empty()) {
@@ -56,13 +56,13 @@ template<class N> N getIntArg(const string & opt,
             else if (u == 'M') multiplier = 1ULL << 20;
             else if (u == 'G') multiplier = 1ULL << 30;
             else if (u == 'T') multiplier = 1ULL << 40;
-            else throw UsageError(format("invalid unit specifier `%1%'") % u);
+            else throw UsageError(format("invalid unit specifier ‘%1%’") % u);
             s.resize(s.size() - 1);
         }
     }
     N n;
     if (!string2Int(s, n))
-        throw UsageError(format("`%1%' requires an integer argument") % opt);
+        throw UsageError(format("‘%1%’ requires an integer argument") % opt);
     return n * multiplier;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/libstore/build.cc b/src/libstore/build.cc
index d93b5607..856e5f82 100644
--- a/src/libstore/build.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/build.cc
@@ -322,7 +322,7 @@ void Goal::waiteeDone(GoalPtr waitee, ExitCode result)
     assert(waitees.find(waitee) != waitees.end());
     waitees.erase(waitee);
 
-    trace(format("waitee `%1%' done; %2% left") %
+    trace(format("waitee ‘%1%’ done; %2% left") %
         waitee->name % waitees.size());
 
     if (result == ecFailed || result == ecNoSubstituters || result == ecIncompleteClosure) ++nrFailed;
@@ -395,7 +395,7 @@ static void commonChildInit(Pipe & logPipe)
     /* Reroute stdin to /dev/null. */
     int fdDevNull = open(pathNullDevice.c_str(), O_RDWR);
     if (fdDevNull == -1)
-        throw SysError(format("cannot open `%1%'") % pathNullDevice);
+        throw SysError(format("cannot open ‘%1%’") % pathNullDevice);
     if (dup2(fdDevNull, STDIN_FILENO) == -1)
         throw SysError("cannot dup null device into stdin");
     close(fdDevNull);
@@ -475,29 +475,29 @@ void UserLock::acquire()
     /* Get the members of the build-users-group. */
     struct group * gr = getgrnam(settings.buildUsersGroup.c_str());
     if (!gr)
-        throw Error(format("the group `%1%' specified in `build-users-group' does not exist")
+        throw Error(format("the group ‘%1%’ specified in ‘build-users-group’ does not exist")
             % settings.buildUsersGroup);
     gid = gr->gr_gid;
 
     /* Copy the result of getgrnam. */
     Strings users;
     for (char * * p = gr->gr_mem; *p; ++p) {
-        debug(format("found build user `%1%'") % *p);
+        debug(format("found build user ‘%1%’") % *p);
         users.push_back(*p);
     }
 
     if (users.empty())
-        throw Error(format("the build users group `%1%' has no members")
+        throw Error(format("the build users group ‘%1%’ has no members")
             % settings.buildUsersGroup);
 
     /* Find a user account that isn't currently in use for another
        build. */
     foreach (Strings::iterator, i, users) {
-        debug(format("trying user `%1%'") % *i);
+        debug(format("trying user ‘%1%’") % *i);
 
         struct passwd * pw = getpwnam(i->c_str());
         if (!pw)
-            throw Error(format("the user `%1%' in the group `%2%' does not exist")
+            throw Error(format("the user ‘%1%’ in the group ‘%2%’ does not exist")
                 % *i % settings.buildUsersGroup);
 
         createDirs(settings.nixStateDir + "/userpool");
@@ -510,7 +510,7 @@ void UserLock::acquire()
 
         AutoCloseFD fd = open(fnUserLock.c_str(), O_RDWR | O_CREAT, 0600);
         if (fd == -1)
-            throw SysError(format("opening user lock `%1%'") % fnUserLock);
+            throw SysError(format("opening user lock ‘%1%’") % fnUserLock);
         closeOnExec(fd);
 
         if (lockFile(fd, ltWrite, false)) {
@@ -521,7 +521,7 @@ void UserLock::acquire()
 
             /* Sanity check... */
             if (uid == getuid() || uid == geteuid())
-                throw Error(format("the Nix user should not be a member of `%1%'")
+                throw Error(format("the Nix user should not be a member of ‘%1%’")
                     % settings.buildUsersGroup);
 
             return;
@@ -529,7 +529,7 @@ void UserLock::acquire()
     }
 
     throw Error(format("all build users are currently in use; "
-        "consider creating additional users and adding them to the `%1%' group")
+        "consider creating additional users and adding them to the ‘%1%’ group")
         % settings.buildUsersGroup);
 }
 
@@ -597,7 +597,7 @@ HookInstance::HookInstance()
 
         commonChildInit(fromHook);
 
-        if (chdir("/") == -1) throw SysError("changing into `/");
+        if (chdir("/") == -1) throw SysError("changing into /");
 
         /* Dup the communication pipes. */
         if (dup2(toHook.readSide, STDIN_FILENO) == -1)
@@ -613,7 +613,7 @@ HookInstance::HookInstance()
             (format("%1%") % settings.buildTimeout).str().c_str(),
             NULL);
 
-        throw SysError(format("executing `%1%'") % buildHook);
+        throw SysError(format("executing ‘%1%’") % buildHook);
     });
 
     pid.setSeparatePG(true);
@@ -843,7 +843,7 @@ DerivationGoal::DerivationGoal(const Path & drvPath, const StringSet & wantedOut
 {
     this->drvPath = drvPath;
     state = &DerivationGoal::init;
-    name = (format("building of `%1%'") % drvPath).str();
+    name = (format("building of ‘%1%’") % drvPath).str();
     trace("created");
 }
 
@@ -924,7 +924,7 @@ void DerivationGoal::init()
     trace("init");
 
     if (settings.readOnlyMode)
-        throw Error(format("cannot build derivation `%1%' - no write access to the Nix store") % drvPath);
+        throw Error(format("cannot build derivation ‘%1%’ - no write access to the Nix store") % drvPath);
 
     /* The first thing to do is to make sure that the derivation
        exists.  If it doesn't, it may be created through a
@@ -940,7 +940,7 @@ void DerivationGoal::haveDerivation()
     trace("loading derivation");
 
     if (nrFailed != 0) {
-        printMsg(lvlError, format("cannot build missing derivation `%1%'") % drvPath);
+        printMsg(lvlError, format("cannot build missing derivation ‘%1%’") % drvPath);
         amDone(ecFailed);
         return;
     }
@@ -991,7 +991,7 @@ void DerivationGoal::outputsSubstituted()
     trace("all outputs substituted (maybe)");
 
     if (nrFailed > 0 && nrFailed > nrNoSubstituters + nrIncompleteClosure && !settings.tryFallback)
-        throw Error(format("some substitutes for the outputs of derivation `%1%' failed (usually happens due to networking issues); try `--fallback' to build derivation from source ") % drvPath);
+        throw Error(format("some substitutes for the outputs of derivation ‘%1%’ failed (usually happens due to networking issues); try ‘--fallback’ to build derivation from source ") % drvPath);
 
     /*  If the substitutes form an incomplete closure, then we should
         build the dependencies of this derivation, but after that, we
@@ -1016,7 +1016,7 @@ void DerivationGoal::outputsSubstituted()
         return;
     }
     if (buildMode == bmCheck && nrInvalid > 0)
-        throw Error(format("some outputs of `%1%' are not valid, so checking is not possible") % drvPath);
+        throw Error(format("some outputs of ‘%1%’ are not valid, so checking is not possible") % drvPath);
 
     /* Otherwise, at least one of the output paths could not be
        produced using a substitute.  So we have to build instead. */
@@ -1072,7 +1072,7 @@ void DerivationGoal::repairClosure()
     PathSet broken;
     foreach (PathSet::iterator, i, outputClosure) {
         if (worker.store.pathContentsGood(*i)) continue;
-        printMsg(lvlError, format("found corrupted or missing path `%1%' in the output closure of `%2%'") % *i % drvPath);
+        printMsg(lvlError, format("found corrupted or missing path ‘%1%’ in the output closure of ‘%2%’") % *i % drvPath);
         Path drvPath2 = outputsToDrv[*i];
         if (drvPath2 == "")
             addWaitee(worker.makeSubstitutionGoal(*i, true));
@@ -1093,7 +1093,7 @@ void DerivationGoal::closureRepaired()
 {
     trace("closure repaired");
     if (nrFailed > 0)
-        throw Error(format("some paths in the output closure of derivation `%1%' could not be repaired") % drvPath);
+        throw Error(format("some paths in the output closure of derivation ‘%1%’ could not be repaired") % drvPath);
     amDone(ecSuccess);
 }
 
@@ -1104,7 +1104,7 @@ void DerivationGoal::inputsRealised()
 
     if (nrFailed != 0) {
         printMsg(lvlError,
-            format("cannot build derivation `%1%': %2% dependencies couldn't be built")
+            format("cannot build derivation ‘%1%’: %2% dependencies couldn't be built")
             % drvPath % nrFailed);
         amDone(ecFailed);
         return;
@@ -1120,7 +1120,7 @@ void DerivationGoal::inputsRealised()
 
     /* The outputs are referenceable paths. */
     foreach (DerivationOutputs::iterator, i, drv.outputs) {
-        debug(format("building path `%1%'") % i->second.path);
+        debug(format("building path ‘%1%’") % i->second.path);
         allPaths.insert(i->second.path);
     }
 
@@ -1138,7 +1138,7 @@ void DerivationGoal::inputsRealised()
                 computeFSClosure(worker.store, inDrv.outputs[*j].path, inputPaths);
             else
                 throw Error(
-                    format("derivation `%1%' requires non-existent output `%2%' from input derivation `%3%'")
+                    format("derivation ‘%1%’ requires non-existent output ‘%2%’ from input derivation ‘%3%’")
                     % drvPath % *j % i->first);
     }
 
@@ -1206,7 +1206,7 @@ void DerivationGoal::tryToBuild()
        goal to sleep until another goal finishes, then try again. */
     foreach (DerivationOutputs::iterator, i, drv.outputs)
         if (pathIsLockedByMe(i->second.path)) {
-            debug(format("putting derivation `%1%' to sleep because `%2%' is locked by another goal")
+            debug(format("putting derivation ‘%1%’ to sleep because ‘%2%’ is locked by another goal")
                 % drvPath % i->second.path);
             worker.waitForAnyGoal(shared_from_this());
             return;
@@ -1232,7 +1232,7 @@ void DerivationGoal::tryToBuild()
     validPaths = checkPathValidity(true, buildMode == bmRepair);
     assert(buildMode != bmCheck || validPaths.size() == drv.outputs.size());
     if (buildMode != bmCheck && validPaths.size() == drv.outputs.size()) {
-        debug(format("skipping build of derivation `%1%', someone beat us to it") % drvPath);
+        debug(format("skipping build of derivation ‘%1%’, someone beat us to it") % drvPath);
         outputLocks.setDeletion(true);
         amDone(ecSuccess);
         return;
@@ -1248,7 +1248,7 @@ void DerivationGoal::tryToBuild()
         Path path = i->second.path;
         if (worker.store.isValidPath(path)) continue;
         if (!pathExists(path)) continue;
-        debug(format("removing invalid path `%1%'") % path);
+        debug(format("removing invalid path ‘%1%’") % path);
         deletePath(path);
     }
 
@@ -1326,7 +1326,7 @@ void replaceValidPath(const Path & storePath, const Path tmpPath)
     if (pathExists(storePath))
         rename(storePath.c_str(), oldPath.c_str());
     if (rename(tmpPath.c_str(), storePath.c_str()) == -1)
-        throw SysError(format("moving `%1%' to `%2%'") % tmpPath % storePath);
+        throw SysError(format("moving ‘%1%’ to ‘%2%’") % tmpPath % storePath);
     if (pathExists(oldPath))
         deletePath(oldPath);
 }
@@ -1352,7 +1352,7 @@ void DerivationGoal::buildDone()
         status = pid.wait(true);
     }
 
-    debug(format("builder process for `%1%' finished") % drvPath);
+    debug(format("builder process for ‘%1%’ finished") % drvPath);
 
     /* So the child is gone now. */
     worker.childTerminated(savedPid);
@@ -1409,7 +1409,7 @@ void DerivationGoal::buildDone()
             if (diskFull)
                 printMsg(lvlError, "note: build failure may have been caused by lack of free disk space");
 
-            throw BuildError(format("builder for `%1%' %2%")
+            throw BuildError(format("builder for ‘%1%’ %2%")
                 % drvPath % statusToString(status));
         }
 
@@ -1519,12 +1519,12 @@ HookReply DerivationGoal::tryBuildHook()
         writeToStderr(s);
     }
 
-    debug(format("hook reply is `%1%'") % reply);
+    debug(format("hook reply is ‘%1%’") % reply);
 
     if (reply == "decline" || reply == "postpone")
         return reply == "decline" ? rpDecline : rpPostpone;
     else if (reply != "accept")
-        throw Error(format("bad hook reply `%1%'") % reply);
+        throw Error(format("bad hook reply ‘%1%’") % reply);
 
     printMsg(lvlTalkative, format("using hook to build path(s) %1%") % showPaths(missingPaths));
 
@@ -1571,7 +1571,7 @@ HookReply DerivationGoal::tryBuildHook()
 void chmod_(const Path & path, mode_t mode)
 {
     if (chmod(path.c_str(), mode) == -1)
-        throw SysError(format("setting permissions on `%1%'") % path);
+        throw SysError(format("setting permissions on ‘%1%’") % path);
 }
 
 
@@ -1594,7 +1594,7 @@ void DerivationGoal::startBuilder()
         if (settings.printBuildTrace)
             printMsg(lvlError, format("@ unsupported-platform %1% %2%") % drvPath % drv.platform);
         throw Error(
-            format("a `%1%' is required to build `%3%', but I am a `%2%'")
+            format("a ‘%1%’ is required to build ‘%3%’, but I am a ‘%2%’")
             % drv.platform % settings.thisSystem % drvPath);
     }
 
@@ -1674,7 +1674,7 @@ void DerivationGoal::startBuilder()
     string s = get(drv.env, "exportReferencesGraph");
     Strings ss = tokenizeString<Strings>(s);
     if (ss.size() % 2 != 0)
-        throw BuildError(format("odd number of tokens in `exportReferencesGraph': `%1%'") % s);
+        throw BuildError(format("odd number of tokens in ‘exportReferencesGraph’: ‘%1%’") % s);
     for (Strings::iterator i = ss.begin(); i != ss.end(); ) {
         string fileName = *i++;
         checkStoreName(fileName); /* !!! abuse of this function */
@@ -1682,11 +1682,11 @@ void DerivationGoal::startBuilder()
         /* Check that the store path is valid. */
         Path storePath = *i++;
         if (!isInStore(storePath))
-            throw BuildError(format("`exportReferencesGraph' contains a non-store path `%1%'")
+            throw BuildError(format("‘exportReferencesGraph’ contains a non-store path ‘%1%’")
                 % storePath);
         storePath = toStorePath(storePath);
         if (!worker.store.isValidPath(storePath))
-            throw BuildError(format("`exportReferencesGraph' contains an invalid path `%1%'")
+            throw BuildError(format("‘exportReferencesGraph’ contains an invalid path ‘%1%’")
                 % storePath);
 
         /* If there are derivations in the graph, then include their
@@ -1724,7 +1724,7 @@ void DerivationGoal::startBuilder()
 
         /* Change ownership of the temporary build directory. */
         if (chown(tmpDir.c_str(), buildUser.getUID(), buildUser.getGID()) == -1)
-            throw SysError(format("cannot change ownership of `%1%'") % tmpDir);
+            throw SysError(format("cannot change ownership of ‘%1%’") % tmpDir);
 
         /* Check that the Nix store has the appropriate permissions,
            i.e., owned by root and mode 1775 (sticky bit on so that
@@ -1732,13 +1732,13 @@ void DerivationGoal::startBuilder()
            outputs of other processes). */
         struct stat st;
         if (stat(settings.nixStore.c_str(), &st) == -1)
-            throw SysError(format("cannot stat `%1%'") % settings.nixStore);
+            throw SysError(format("cannot stat ‘%1%’") % settings.nixStore);
         if (!(st.st_mode & S_ISVTX) ||
             ((st.st_mode & S_IRWXG) != S_IRWXG) ||
             (st.st_gid != buildUser.getGID()))
             throw Error(format(
-                "builder does not have write permission to `%2%'; "
-                "try `chgrp %1% %2%; chmod 1775 %2%'")
+                "builder does not have write permission to ‘%2%’; "
+                "try ‘chgrp %1% %2%; chmod 1775 %2%’")
                 % buildUser.getGID() % settings.nixStore);
     }
 
@@ -1767,7 +1767,7 @@ void DerivationGoal::startBuilder()
         /* Clean up the chroot directory automatically. */
         autoDelChroot = std::shared_ptr<AutoDelete>(new AutoDelete(chrootRootDir));
 
-        printMsg(lvlChatty, format("setting up chroot environment in `%1%'") % chrootRootDir);
+        printMsg(lvlChatty, format("setting up chroot environment in ‘%1%’") % chrootRootDir);
 
         /* Create a writable /tmp in the chroot.  Many builders need
            this.  (Of course they should really respect $TMPDIR
@@ -1824,7 +1824,7 @@ void DerivationGoal::startBuilder()
         foreach (PathSet::iterator, i, inputPaths) {
             struct stat st;
             if (lstat(i->c_str(), &st))
-                throw SysError(format("getting attributes of path `%1%'") % *i);
+                throw SysError(format("getting attributes of path ‘%1%’") % *i);
             if (S_ISDIR(st.st_mode))
                 dirsInChroot[*i] = *i;
             else {
@@ -1835,7 +1835,7 @@ void DerivationGoal::startBuilder()
                        which is quite possible after a `nix-store
                        --optimise'. */
                     if (errno != EMLINK)
-                        throw SysError(format("linking `%1%' to `%2%'") % p % *i);
+                        throw SysError(format("linking ‘%1%’ to ‘%2%’") % p % *i);
                     StringSink sink;
                     dumpPath(*i, sink);
                     StringSource source(sink.s);
@@ -1862,7 +1862,7 @@ void DerivationGoal::startBuilder()
     else {
 
         if (pathExists(homeDir))
-            throw Error(format("directory `%1%' exists; please remove it") % homeDir);
+            throw Error(format("directory ‘%1%’ exists; please remove it") % homeDir);
 
         /* We're not doing a chroot build, but we have some valid
            output paths.  Since we can't just overwrite or delete
@@ -1889,7 +1889,7 @@ void DerivationGoal::startBuilder()
 
 
     /* Run the builder. */
-    printMsg(lvlChatty, format("executing builder `%1%'") % drv.builder);
+    printMsg(lvlChatty, format("executing builder ‘%1%’") % drv.builder);
 
     /* Create the log file. */
     Path logFile = openLogFile();
@@ -2004,7 +2004,7 @@ void DerivationGoal::initChild()
                 vector<string> fields = tokenizeString<vector<string> >(*i, " ");
                 string fs = decodeOctalEscaped(fields.at(4));
                 if (mount(0, fs.c_str(), 0, MS_PRIVATE, 0) == -1)
-                    throw SysError(format("unable to make filesystem `%1%' private") % fs);
+                    throw SysError(format("unable to make filesystem ‘%1%’ private") % fs);
             }
 
             /* Set up a nearly empty /dev, unless the user asked to
@@ -2038,9 +2038,9 @@ void DerivationGoal::initChild()
                 Path source = i->second;
                 Path target = chrootRootDir + i->first;
                 if (source == "/proc") continue; // backwards compatibility
-                debug(format("bind mounting `%1%' to `%2%'") % source % target);
+                debug(format("bind mounting ‘%1%’ to ‘%2%’") % source % target);
                 if (stat(source.c_str(), &st) == -1)
-                    throw SysError(format("getting attributes of path `%1%'") % source);
+                    throw SysError(format("getting attributes of path ‘%1%’") % source);
                 if (S_ISDIR(st.st_mode))
                     createDirs(target);
                 else {
@@ -2048,7 +2048,7 @@ void DerivationGoal::initChild()
                     writeFile(target, "");
                 }
                 if (mount(source.c_str(), target.c_str(), "", MS_BIND, 0) == -1)
-                    throw SysError(format("bind mount from `%1%' to `%2%' failed") % source % target);
+                    throw SysError(format("bind mount from ‘%1%’ to ‘%2%’ failed") % source % target);
             }
 
             /* Bind a new instance of procfs on /proc to reflect our
@@ -2085,12 +2085,12 @@ void DerivationGoal::initChild()
                doesn't matter, since due to the bind mount tmpDir and
                tmpRootDit/tmpDir are the same directories.) */
             if (chroot(chrootRootDir.c_str()) == -1)
-                throw SysError(format("cannot change root directory to `%1%'") % chrootRootDir);
+                throw SysError(format("cannot change root directory to ‘%1%’") % chrootRootDir);
         }
 #endif
 
         if (chdir(tmpDir.c_str()) == -1)
-            throw SysError(format("changing into `%1%'") % tmpDir);
+            throw SysError(format("changing into ‘%1%’") % tmpDir);
 
         /* Close all other file descriptors. */
         closeMostFDs(set<int>());
@@ -2132,7 +2132,7 @@ void DerivationGoal::initChild()
            setuid() when run as root sets the real, effective and
            saved UIDs. */
         if (buildUser.enabled()) {
-            printMsg(lvlChatty, format("switching to user `%1%'") % buildUser.getUser());
+            printMsg(lvlChatty, format("switching to user ‘%1%’") % buildUser.getUser());
 
             if (setgroups(0, 0) == -1)
                 throw SysError("cannot clear the set of supplementary groups");
@@ -2163,7 +2163,7 @@ void DerivationGoal::initChild()
         /* Execute the program.  This should not return. */
         execve(program.c_str(), (char * *) &args[0], (char * *) envArr);
 
-        throw SysError(format("executing `%1%'") % drv.builder);
+        throw SysError(format("executing ‘%1%’") % drv.builder);
 
     } catch (std::exception & e) {
         writeToStderr("while setting up the build environment: " + string(e.what()) + "\n");
@@ -2187,7 +2187,7 @@ PathSet parseReferenceSpecifiers(const Derivation & drv, string attr)
         else if (drv.outputs.find(*i) != drv.outputs.end())
             result.insert(drv.outputs.find(*i)->second.path);
         else throw BuildError(
-            format("derivation contains an illegal reference specifier `%1%'")
+            format("derivation contains an illegal reference specifier ‘%1%’")
             % *i);
     }
     return result;
@@ -2224,7 +2224,7 @@ void DerivationGoal::registerOutputs()
                     replaceValidPath(path, actualPath);
                 else
                     if (buildMode != bmCheck && rename(actualPath.c_str(), path.c_str()) == -1)
-                        throw SysError(format("moving build output `%1%' from the chroot to the Nix store") % path);
+                        throw SysError(format("moving build output ‘%1%’ from the chroot to the Nix store") % path);
             }
             if (buildMode != bmCheck) actualPath = path;
         } else {
@@ -2241,9 +2241,9 @@ void DerivationGoal::registerOutputs()
         if (lstat(actualPath.c_str(), &st) == -1) {
             if (errno == ENOENT)
                 throw BuildError(
-                    format("builder for `%1%' failed to produce output path `%2%'")
+                    format("builder for ‘%1%’ failed to produce output path ‘%2%’")
                     % drvPath % path);
-            throw SysError(format("getting attributes of path `%1%'") % actualPath);
+            throw SysError(format("getting attributes of path ‘%1%’") % actualPath);
         }
 
 #ifndef __CYGWIN__
@@ -2253,13 +2253,13 @@ void DerivationGoal::registerOutputs()
            user. */
         if ((!S_ISLNK(st.st_mode) && (st.st_mode & (S_IWGRP | S_IWOTH))) ||
             (buildUser.enabled() && st.st_uid != buildUser.getUID()))
-            throw BuildError(format("suspicious ownership or permission on `%1%'; rejecting this build output") % path);
+            throw BuildError(format("suspicious ownership or permission on ‘%1%’; rejecting this build output") % path);
 #endif
 
         /* Apply hash rewriting if necessary. */
         bool rewritten = false;
         if (!rewritesFromTmp.empty()) {
-            printMsg(lvlError, format("warning: rewriting hashes in `%1%'; cross fingers") % path);
+            printMsg(lvlError, format("warning: rewriting hashes in ‘%1%’; cross fingers") % path);
 
             /* Canonicalise first.  This ensures that the path we're
                rewriting doesn't contain a hard link to /etc/shadow or
@@ -2278,7 +2278,7 @@ void DerivationGoal::registerOutputs()
         }
 
         startNest(nest, lvlTalkative,
-            format("scanning for references inside `%1%'") % path);
+            format("scanning for references inside ‘%1%’") % path);
 
         /* Check that fixed-output derivations produced the right
            outputs (i.e., the content hash should match the specified
@@ -2293,14 +2293,14 @@ void DerivationGoal::registerOutputs()
                    execute permission. */
                 if (!S_ISREG(st.st_mode) || (st.st_mode & S_IXUSR) != 0)
                     throw BuildError(
-                        format("output path `%1% should be a non-executable regular file") % path);
+                        format("output path ‘%1%’ should be a non-executable regular file") % path);
             }
 
             /* Check the hash. */
             Hash h2 = recursive ? hashPath(ht, actualPath).first : hashFile(ht, actualPath);
             if (h != h2)
                 throw BuildError(
-                    format("output path `%1%' should have %2% hash `%3%', instead has `%4%'")
+                    format("output path ‘%1%’ should have %2% hash ‘%3%’, instead has ‘%4%’")
                     % path % i->second.hashAlgo % printHash16or32(h) % printHash16or32(h2));
         }
 
@@ -2319,7 +2319,7 @@ void DerivationGoal::registerOutputs()
         if (buildMode == bmCheck) {
             ValidPathInfo info = worker.store.queryPathInfo(path);
             if (hash.first != info.hash)
-                throw Error(format("derivation `%2%' may not be deterministic: hash mismatch in output `%1%'") % drvPath % path);
+                throw Error(format("derivation ‘%2%’ may not be deterministic: hash mismatch in output ‘%1%’") % drvPath % path);
             continue;
         }
 
@@ -2328,9 +2328,9 @@ void DerivationGoal::registerOutputs()
         foreach (PathSet::iterator, i, inputPaths) {
             PathSet::iterator j = references.find(*i);
             if (j == references.end())
-                debug(format("unreferenced input: `%1%'") % *i);
+                debug(format("unreferenced input: ‘%1%’") % *i);
             else
-                debug(format("referenced input: `%1%'") % *i);
+                debug(format("referenced input: ‘%1%’") % *i);
         }
 
         /* If the derivation specifies an `allowedReferences'
@@ -2341,7 +2341,7 @@ void DerivationGoal::registerOutputs()
             PathSet allowed = parseReferenceSpecifiers(drv, get(drv.env, "allowedReferences"));
             foreach (PathSet::iterator, i, references)
                 if (allowed.find(*i) == allowed.end())
-                    throw BuildError(format("output is not allowed to refer to path `%1%'") % *i);
+                    throw BuildError(format("output is not allowed to refer to path ‘%1%’") % *i);
         }
 
         worker.store.optimisePath(path); // FIXME: combine with scanForReferences()
@@ -2385,22 +2385,22 @@ Path DerivationGoal::openLogFile()
 
         Path logFileName = (format("%1%/%2%.bz2") % dir % string(baseName, 2)).str();
         AutoCloseFD fd = open(logFileName.c_str(), O_CREAT | O_WRONLY | O_TRUNC, 0666);
-        if (fd == -1) throw SysError(format("creating log file `%1%'") % logFileName);
+        if (fd == -1) throw SysError(format("creating log file ‘%1%’") % logFileName);
         closeOnExec(fd);
 
         if (!(fLogFile = fdopen(fd.borrow(), "w")))
-            throw SysError(format("opening file `%1%'") % logFileName);
+            throw SysError(format("opening file ‘%1%’") % logFileName);
 
         int err;
         if (!(bzLogFile = BZ2_bzWriteOpen(&err, fLogFile, 9, 0, 0)))
-            throw Error(format("cannot open compressed log file `%1%'") % logFileName);
+            throw Error(format("cannot open compressed log file ‘%1%’") % logFileName);
 
         return logFileName;
 
     } else {
         Path logFileName = (format("%1%/%2%") % dir % string(baseName, 2)).str();
         fdLogFile = open(logFileName.c_str(), O_CREAT | O_WRONLY | O_TRUNC, 0666);
-        if (fdLogFile == -1) throw SysError(format("creating log file `%1%'") % logFileName);
+        if (fdLogFile == -1) throw SysError(format("creating log file ‘%1%’") % logFileName);
         closeOnExec(fdLogFile);
         return logFileName;
     }
@@ -2430,7 +2430,7 @@ void DerivationGoal::deleteTmpDir(bool force)
     if (tmpDir != "") {
         if (settings.keepFailed && !force) {
             printMsg(lvlError,
-                format("note: keeping build directory `%2%'")
+                format("note: keeping build directory ‘%2%’")
                 % drvPath % tmpDir);
             chmod(tmpDir.c_str(), 0755);
         }
@@ -2495,7 +2495,7 @@ bool DerivationGoal::pathFailed(const Path & path)
 
     if (!worker.store.hasPathFailed(path)) return false;
 
-    printMsg(lvlError, format("builder for `%1%' failed previously (cached)") % path);
+    printMsg(lvlError, format("builder for ‘%1%’ failed previously (cached)") % path);
 
     if (settings.printBuildTrace)
         printMsg(lvlError, format("@ build-failed %1% - cached") % drvPath);
@@ -2597,7 +2597,7 @@ SubstitutionGoal::SubstitutionGoal(const Path & storePath, Worker & worker, bool
 {
     this->storePath = storePath;
     state = &SubstitutionGoal::init;
-    name = (format("substitution of `%1%'") % storePath).str();
+    name = (format("substitution of ‘%1%’") % storePath).str();
     trace("created");
 }
 
@@ -2640,7 +2640,7 @@ void SubstitutionGoal::init()
     }
 
     if (settings.readOnlyMode)
-        throw Error(format("cannot substitute path `%1%' - no write access to the Nix store") % storePath);
+        throw Error(format("cannot substitute path ‘%1%’ - no write access to the Nix store") % storePath);
 
     subs = settings.substituters;
 
@@ -2655,7 +2655,7 @@ void SubstitutionGoal::tryNext()
     if (subs.size() == 0) {
         /* None left.  Terminate this goal and let someone else deal
            with it. */
-        debug(format("path `%1%' is required, but there is no substituter that can build it") % storePath);
+        debug(format("path ‘%1%’ is required, but there is no substituter that can build it") % storePath);
         /* Hack: don't indicate failure if there were no substituters.
            In that case the calling derivation should just do a
            build. */
@@ -2692,7 +2692,7 @@ void SubstitutionGoal::referencesValid()
     trace("all references realised");
 
     if (nrFailed > 0) {
-        debug(format("some references of path `%1%' could not be realised") % storePath);
+        debug(format("some references of path ‘%1%’ could not be realised") % storePath);
         amDone(nrNoSubstituters > 0 || nrIncompleteClosure > 0 ? ecIncompleteClosure : ecFailed);
         return;
     }
@@ -2724,7 +2724,7 @@ void SubstitutionGoal::tryToRun()
        first, but let's be defensive). */
     outputLock.reset(); // make sure this goal's lock is gone
     if (pathIsLockedByMe(storePath)) {
-        debug(format("restarting substitution of `%1%' because it's locked by another goal")
+        debug(format("restarting substitution of ‘%1%’ because it's locked by another goal")
             % storePath);
         worker.waitForAnyGoal(shared_from_this());
         return; /* restart in the tryToRun() state when another goal finishes */
@@ -2739,13 +2739,13 @@ void SubstitutionGoal::tryToRun()
 
     /* Check again whether the path is invalid. */
     if (!repair && worker.store.isValidPath(storePath)) {
-        debug(format("store path `%1%' has become valid") % storePath);
+        debug(format("store path ‘%1%’ has become valid") % storePath);
         outputLock->setDeletion(true);
         amDone(ecSuccess);
         return;
     }
 
-    printMsg(lvlInfo, format("fetching path `%1%'...") % storePath);
+    printMsg(lvlInfo, format("fetching path ‘%1%’...") % storePath);
 
     outPipe.create();
     logPipe.create();
@@ -2776,7 +2776,7 @@ void SubstitutionGoal::tryToRun()
 
         execv(sub.c_str(), (char * *) argArr);
 
-        throw SysError(format("executing `%1%'") % sub);
+        throw SysError(format("executing ‘%1%’") % sub);
     });
 
     pid.setSeparatePG(true);
@@ -2818,11 +2818,11 @@ void SubstitutionGoal::finished()
     try {
 
         if (!statusOk(status))
-            throw SubstError(format("fetching path `%1%' %2%")
+            throw SubstError(format("fetching path ‘%1%’ %2%")
                 % storePath % statusToString(status));
 
         if (!pathExists(destPath))
-            throw SubstError(format("substitute did not produce path `%1%'") % destPath);
+            throw SubstError(format("substitute did not produce path ‘%1%’") % destPath);
 
         hash = hashPath(htSHA256, destPath);
 
@@ -2833,11 +2833,11 @@ void SubstitutionGoal::finished()
                 throw Error(format("bad hash from substituter: %1%") % expectedHashStr);
             HashType hashType = parseHashType(string(expectedHashStr, 0, n));
             if (hashType == htUnknown)
-                throw Error(format("unknown hash algorithm in `%1%'") % expectedHashStr);
+                throw Error(format("unknown hash algorithm in ‘%1%’") % expectedHashStr);
             Hash expectedHash = parseHash16or32(hashType, string(expectedHashStr, n + 1));
             Hash actualHash = hashType == htSHA256 ? hash.first : hashPath(hashType, destPath).first;
             if (expectedHash != actualHash)
-                throw SubstError(format("hash mismatch in downloaded path `%1%': expected %2%, got %3%")
+                throw SubstError(format("hash mismatch in downloaded path ‘%1%’: expected %2%, got %3%")
                     % storePath % printHash(expectedHash) % printHash(actualHash));
         }
 
@@ -2876,7 +2876,7 @@ void SubstitutionGoal::finished()
     worker.store.markContentsGood(storePath);
 
     printMsg(lvlChatty,
-        format("substitution of path `%1%' succeeded") % storePath);
+        format("substitution of path ‘%1%’ succeeded") % storePath);
 
     if (settings.printBuildTrace)
         printMsg(lvlError, format("@ substituter-succeeded %1%") % storePath);
@@ -3101,7 +3101,7 @@ void Worker::run(const Goals & _topGoals)
             waitForInput();
         else {
             if (awake.empty() && settings.maxBuildJobs == 0) throw Error(
-                "unable to start any build; either increase `--max-jobs' "
+                "unable to start any build; either increase ‘--max-jobs’ "
                 "or enable distributed builds");
             assert(!awake.empty());
         }
@@ -3307,7 +3307,7 @@ void LocalStore::ensurePath(const Path & path)
     worker.run(goals);
 
     if (goal->getExitCode() != Goal::ecSuccess)
-        throw Error(format("path `%1%' does not exist and cannot be created") % path, worker.exitStatus());
+        throw Error(format("path ‘%1%’ does not exist and cannot be created") % path, worker.exitStatus());
 }
 
 
@@ -3320,7 +3320,7 @@ void LocalStore::repairPath(const Path & path)
     worker.run(goals);
 
     if (goal->getExitCode() != Goal::ecSuccess)
-        throw Error(format("cannot repair path `%1%'") % path, worker.exitStatus());
+        throw Error(format("cannot repair path ‘%1%’") % path, worker.exitStatus());
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/libstore/derivations.cc b/src/libstore/derivations.cc
index b452aa2c..7234ae56 100644
--- a/src/libstore/derivations.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/derivations.cc
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ void DerivationOutput::parseHashInfo(bool & recursive, HashType & hashType, Hash
 
     hashType = parseHashType(algo);
     if (hashType == htUnknown)
-        throw Error(format("unknown hash algorithm `%1%'") % algo);
+        throw Error(format("unknown hash algorithm ‘%1%’") % algo);
 
     hash = parseHash(hashType, this->hash);
 }
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ static Path parsePath(std::istream & str)
 {
     string s = parseString(str);
     if (s.size() == 0 || s[0] != '/')
-        throw FormatError(format("bad path `%1%' in derivation") % s);
+        throw FormatError(format("bad path ‘%1%’ in derivation") % s);
     return s;
 }
 
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ Derivation readDerivation(const Path & drvPath)
     try {
         return parseDerivation(readFile(drvPath));
     } catch (FormatError & e) {
-        throw Error(format("error parsing derivation `%1%': %2%") % drvPath % e.msg());
+        throw Error(format("error parsing derivation ‘%1%’: %2%") % drvPath % e.msg());
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/libstore/gc.cc b/src/libstore/gc.cc
index 74c20839..481f5a7c 100644
--- a/src/libstore/gc.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/gc.cc
@@ -31,11 +31,11 @@ int LocalStore::openGCLock(LockType lockType)
     Path fnGCLock = (format("%1%/%2%")
         % settings.nixStateDir % gcLockName).str();
 
-    debug(format("acquiring global GC lock `%1%'") % fnGCLock);
+    debug(format("acquiring global GC lock ‘%1%’") % fnGCLock);
 
     AutoCloseFD fdGCLock = open(fnGCLock.c_str(), O_RDWR | O_CREAT, 0600);
     if (fdGCLock == -1)
-        throw SysError(format("opening global GC lock `%1%'") % fnGCLock);
+        throw SysError(format("opening global GC lock ‘%1%’") % fnGCLock);
     closeOnExec(fdGCLock);
 
     if (!lockFile(fdGCLock, lockType, false)) {
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ static void makeSymlink(const Path & link, const Path & target)
 
     /* Atomically replace the old one. */
     if (rename(tempLink.c_str(), link.c_str()) == -1)
-        throw SysError(format("cannot rename `%1%' to `%2%'")
+        throw SysError(format("cannot rename ‘%1%’ to ‘%2%’")
             % tempLink % link);
 }
 
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ Path addPermRoot(StoreAPI & store, const Path & _storePath,
         /* Don't clobber the the link if it already exists and doesn't
            point to the Nix store. */
         if (pathExists(gcRoot) && (!isLink(gcRoot) || !isInStore(readLink(gcRoot))))
-            throw Error(format("cannot create symlink `%1%'; already exists") % gcRoot);
+            throw Error(format("cannot create symlink ‘%1%’; already exists") % gcRoot);
         makeSymlink(gcRoot, storePath);
         store.addIndirectRoot(gcRoot);
     }
@@ -110,8 +110,8 @@ Path addPermRoot(StoreAPI & store, const Path & _storePath,
 
             if (string(gcRoot, 0, rootsDir.size() + 1) != rootsDir + "/")
                 throw Error(format(
-                    "path `%1%' is not a valid garbage collector root; "
-                    "it's not in the directory `%2%'")
+                    "path ‘%1%’ is not a valid garbage collector root; "
+                    "it's not in the directory ‘%2%’")
                     % gcRoot % rootsDir);
         }
 
@@ -131,8 +131,8 @@ Path addPermRoot(StoreAPI & store, const Path & _storePath,
         if (roots.find(gcRoot) == roots.end())
             printMsg(lvlError,
                 format(
-                    "warning: `%1%' is not in a directory where the garbage collector looks for roots; "
-                    "therefore, `%2%' might be removed by the garbage collector")
+                    "warning: ‘%1%’ is not in a directory where the garbage collector looks for roots; "
+                    "therefore, ‘%2%’ might be removed by the garbage collector")
                 % gcRoot % storePath);
     }
 
@@ -173,14 +173,14 @@ void LocalStore::addTempRoot(const Path & path)
 
             fdGCLock.close();
 
-            debug(format("acquiring read lock on `%1%'") % fnTempRoots);
+            debug(format("acquiring read lock on ‘%1%’") % fnTempRoots);
             lockFile(fdTempRoots, ltRead, true);
 
             /* Check whether the garbage collector didn't get in our
                way. */
             struct stat st;
             if (fstat(fdTempRoots, &st) == -1)
-                throw SysError(format("statting `%1%'") % fnTempRoots);
+                throw SysError(format("statting ‘%1%’") % fnTempRoots);
             if (st.st_size == 0) break;
 
             /* The garbage collector deleted this file before we could
@@ -192,14 +192,14 @@ void LocalStore::addTempRoot(const Path & path)
 
     /* Upgrade the lock to a write lock.  This will cause us to block
        if the garbage collector is holding our lock. */
-    debug(format("acquiring write lock on `%1%'") % fnTempRoots);
+    debug(format("acquiring write lock on ‘%1%’") % fnTempRoots);
     lockFile(fdTempRoots, ltWrite, true);
 
     string s = path + '\0';
     writeFull(fdTempRoots, (const unsigned char *) s.data(), s.size());
 
     /* Downgrade to a read lock. */
-    debug(format("downgrading to read lock on `%1%'") % fnTempRoots);
+    debug(format("downgrading to read lock on ‘%1%’") % fnTempRoots);
     lockFile(fdTempRoots, ltRead, true);
 }
 
@@ -239,12 +239,12 @@ static void readTempRoots(PathSet & tempRoots, FDs & fds)
     for (auto & i : tempRootFiles) {
         Path path = (format("%1%/%2%/%3%") % settings.nixStateDir % tempRootsDir % i.name).str();
 
-        debug(format("reading temporary root file `%1%'") % path);
+        debug(format("reading temporary root file ‘%1%’") % path);
         FDPtr fd(new AutoCloseFD(open(path.c_str(), O_RDWR, 0666)));
         if (*fd == -1) {
             /* It's okay if the file has disappeared. */
             if (errno == ENOENT) continue;
-            throw SysError(format("opening temporary roots file `%1%'") % path);
+            throw SysError(format("opening temporary roots file ‘%1%’") % path);
         }
 
         /* This should work, but doesn't, for some reason. */
@@ -255,7 +255,7 @@ static void readTempRoots(PathSet & tempRoots, FDs & fds)
            only succeed if the owning process has died.  In that case
            we don't care about its temporary roots. */
         if (lockFile(*fd, ltWrite, false)) {
-            printMsg(lvlError, format("removing stale temporary roots file `%1%'") % path);
+            printMsg(lvlError, format("removing stale temporary roots file ‘%1%’") % path);
             unlink(path.c_str());
             writeFull(*fd, (const unsigned char *) "d", 1);
             continue;
@@ -264,7 +264,7 @@ static void readTempRoots(PathSet & tempRoots, FDs & fds)
         /* Acquire a read lock.  This will prevent the owning process
            from upgrading to a write lock, therefore it will block in
            addTempRoot(). */
-        debug(format("waiting for read lock on `%1%'") % path);
+        debug(format("waiting for read lock on ‘%1%’") % path);
         lockFile(*fd, ltRead, true);
 
         /* Read the entire file. */
@@ -275,7 +275,7 @@ static void readTempRoots(PathSet & tempRoots, FDs & fds)
 
         while ((end = contents.find((char) 0, pos)) != string::npos) {
             Path root(contents, pos, end - pos);
-            debug(format("got temporary root `%1%'") % root);
+            debug(format("got temporary root ‘%1%’") % root);
             assertStorePath(root);
             tempRoots.insert(root);
             pos = end + 1;
@@ -293,7 +293,7 @@ static void foundRoot(StoreAPI & store,
     if (store.isValidPath(storePath))
         roots[path] = storePath;
     else
-        printMsg(lvlInfo, format("skipping invalid root from `%1%' to `%2%'") % path % storePath);
+        printMsg(lvlInfo, format("skipping invalid root from ‘%1%’ to ‘%2%’") % path % storePath);
 }
 
 
@@ -323,7 +323,7 @@ static void findRoots(StoreAPI & store, const Path & path, unsigned char type, R
                 target = absPath(target, dirOf(path));
                 if (!pathExists(target)) {
                     if (isInDir(path, settings.nixStateDir + "/" + gcRootsDir + "/auto")) {
-                        printMsg(lvlInfo, format("removing stale link from `%1%' to `%2%'") % path % target);
+                        printMsg(lvlInfo, format("removing stale link from ‘%1%’ to ‘%2%’") % path % target);
                         unlink(path.c_str());
                     }
                 } else {
@@ -346,7 +346,7 @@ static void findRoots(StoreAPI & store, const Path & path, unsigned char type, R
     catch (SysError & e) {
         /* We only ignore permanent failures. */
         if (e.errNo == EACCES || e.errNo == ENOENT || e.errNo == ENOTDIR)
-            printMsg(lvlInfo, format("cannot read potential root `%1%'") % path);
+            printMsg(lvlInfo, format("cannot read potential root ‘%1%’") % path);
         else
             throw;
     }
@@ -373,7 +373,7 @@ static void addAdditionalRoots(StoreAPI & store, PathSet & roots)
 
     if (rootFinder.empty()) return;
 
-    debug(format("executing `%1%' to find additional roots") % rootFinder);
+    debug(format("executing ‘%1%’ to find additional roots") % rootFinder);
 
     string result = runProgram(rootFinder);
 
@@ -383,7 +383,7 @@ static void addAdditionalRoots(StoreAPI & store, PathSet & roots)
         if (isInStore(*i)) {
             Path path = toStorePath(*i);
             if (roots.find(path) == roots.end() && store.isValidPath(path)) {
-                debug(format("got additional root `%1%'") % path);
+                debug(format("got additional root ‘%1%’") % path);
                 roots.insert(path);
             }
         }
@@ -448,7 +448,7 @@ void LocalStore::deletePathRecursive(GCState & state, const Path & path)
         throw SysError(format("getting status of %1%") % path);
     }
 
-    printMsg(lvlInfo, format("deleting `%1%'") % path);
+    printMsg(lvlInfo, format("deleting ‘%1%’") % path);
 
     state.results.paths.insert(path);
 
@@ -463,10 +463,10 @@ void LocalStore::deletePathRecursive(GCState & state, const Path & path)
         // size.
         state.bytesInvalidated += size;
         if (chmod(path.c_str(), st.st_mode | S_IWUSR) == -1)
-            throw SysError(format("making `%1%' writable") % path);
+            throw SysError(format("making ‘%1%’ writable") % path);
         Path tmp = state.trashDir + "/" + baseNameOf(path);
         if (rename(path.c_str(), tmp.c_str()))
-            throw SysError(format("unable to rename `%1%' to `%2%'") % path % tmp);
+            throw SysError(format("unable to rename ‘%1%’ to ‘%2%’") % path % tmp);
     } else
         deleteGarbage(state, path);
 
@@ -490,7 +490,7 @@ bool LocalStore::canReachRoot(GCState & state, PathSet & visited, const Path & p
     }
 
     if (state.roots.find(path) != state.roots.end()) {
-        printMsg(lvlDebug, format("cannot delete `%1%' because it's a root") % path);
+        printMsg(lvlDebug, format("cannot delete ‘%1%’ because it's a root") % path);
         state.alive.insert(path);
         return true;
     }
@@ -538,7 +538,7 @@ void LocalStore::tryToDelete(GCState & state, const Path & path)
 
     if (path == linksDir || path == state.trashDir) return;
 
-    startNest(nest, lvlDebug, format("considering whether to delete `%1%'") % path);
+    startNest(nest, lvlDebug, format("considering whether to delete ‘%1%’") % path);
 
     if (!isValidPath(path)) {
         /* A lock file belonging to a path that we're building right
@@ -553,7 +553,7 @@ void LocalStore::tryToDelete(GCState & state, const Path & path)
     PathSet visited;
 
     if (canReachRoot(state, visited, path)) {
-        printMsg(lvlDebug, format("cannot delete `%1%' because it's still reachable") % path);
+        printMsg(lvlDebug, format("cannot delete ‘%1%’ because it's still reachable") % path);
     } else {
         /* No path we visited was a root, so everything is garbage.
            But we only delete ‘path’ and its referrers here so that
@@ -574,7 +574,7 @@ void LocalStore::tryToDelete(GCState & state, const Path & path)
 void LocalStore::removeUnusedLinks(const GCState & state)
 {
     AutoCloseDir dir = opendir(linksDir.c_str());
-    if (!dir) throw SysError(format("opening directory `%1%'") % linksDir);
+    if (!dir) throw SysError(format("opening directory ‘%1%’") % linksDir);
 
     long long actualSize = 0, unsharedSize = 0;
 
@@ -587,7 +587,7 @@ void LocalStore::removeUnusedLinks(const GCState & state)
 
         struct stat st;
         if (lstat(path.c_str(), &st) == -1)
-            throw SysError(format("statting `%1%'") % path);
+            throw SysError(format("statting ‘%1%’") % path);
 
         if (st.st_nlink != 1) {
             unsigned long long size = st.st_blocks * 512ULL;
@@ -596,17 +596,17 @@ void LocalStore::removeUnusedLinks(const GCState & state)
             continue;
         }
 
-        printMsg(lvlTalkative, format("deleting unused link `%1%'") % path);
+        printMsg(lvlTalkative, format("deleting unused link ‘%1%’") % path);
 
         if (unlink(path.c_str()) == -1)
-            throw SysError(format("deleting `%1%'") % path);
+            throw SysError(format("deleting ‘%1%’") % path);
 
         state.results.bytesFreed += st.st_blocks * 512;
     }
 
     struct stat st;
     if (stat(linksDir.c_str(), &st) == -1)
-        throw SysError(format("statting `%1%'") % linksDir);
+        throw SysError(format("statting ‘%1%’") % linksDir);
     long long overhead = st.st_blocks * 512ULL;
 
     printMsg(lvlInfo, format("note: currently hard linking saves %.2f MiB")
@@ -677,7 +677,7 @@ void LocalStore::collectGarbage(const GCOptions & options, GCResults & results)
             assertStorePath(*i);
             tryToDelete(state, *i);
             if (state.dead.find(*i) == state.dead.end())
-                throw Error(format("cannot delete path `%1%' since it is still alive") % *i);
+                throw Error(format("cannot delete path ‘%1%’ since it is still alive") % *i);
         }
 
     } else if (options.maxFreed > 0) {
@@ -690,7 +690,7 @@ void LocalStore::collectGarbage(const GCOptions & options, GCResults & results)
         try {
 
             AutoCloseDir dir = opendir(settings.nixStore.c_str());
-            if (!dir) throw SysError(format("opening directory `%1%'") % settings.nixStore);
+            if (!dir) throw SysError(format("opening directory ‘%1%’") % settings.nixStore);
 
             /* Read the store and immediately delete all paths that
                aren't valid.  When using --max-freed etc., deleting
@@ -743,7 +743,7 @@ void LocalStore::collectGarbage(const GCOptions & options, GCResults & results)
     fds.clear();
 
     /* Delete the trash directory. */
-    printMsg(lvlInfo, format("deleting `%1%'") % state.trashDir);
+    printMsg(lvlInfo, format("deleting ‘%1%’") % state.trashDir);
     deleteGarbage(state, state.trashDir);
 
     /* Clean up the links directory. */
diff --git a/src/libstore/globals.cc b/src/libstore/globals.cc
index 23ece4a2..b410cea2 100644
--- a/src/libstore/globals.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/globals.cc
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ void Settings::loadConfFile()
         if (tokens.empty()) continue;
 
         if (tokens.size() < 2 || tokens[1] != "=")
-            throw Error(format("illegal configuration line `%1%' in `%2%'") % line % settingsFile);
+            throw Error(format("illegal configuration line ‘%1%’ in ‘%2%’") % line % settingsFile);
 
         string name = tokens[0];
 
@@ -198,7 +198,7 @@ void Settings::_get(bool & res, const string & name)
     if (i == settings.end()) return;
     if (i->second == "true") res = true;
     else if (i->second == "false") res = false;
-    else throw Error(format("configuration option `%1%' should be either `true' or `false', not `%2%'")
+    else throw Error(format("configuration option ‘%1%’ should be either ‘true’ or ‘false’, not ‘%2%’")
         % name % i->second);
 }
 
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ template<class N> void Settings::_get(N & res, const string & name)
     SettingsMap::iterator i = settings.find(name);
     if (i == settings.end()) return;
     if (!string2Int(i->second, res))
-        throw Error(format("configuration setting `%1%' should have an integer value") % name);
+        throw Error(format("configuration setting ‘%1%’ should have an integer value") % name);
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/libstore/local-store.cc b/src/libstore/local-store.cc
index ab5b6013..f91a0889 100644
--- a/src/libstore/local-store.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/local-store.cc
@@ -212,10 +212,10 @@ void checkStoreNotSymlink()
     struct stat st;
     while (path != "/") {
         if (lstat(path.c_str(), &st))
-            throw SysError(format("getting status of `%1%'") % path);
+            throw SysError(format("getting status of ‘%1%’") % path);
         if (S_ISLNK(st.st_mode))
             throw Error(format(
-                "the path `%1%' is a symlink; "
+                "the path ‘%1%’ is a symlink; "
                 "this is not allowed for the Nix store and its parent directories")
                 % path);
         path = dirOf(path);
@@ -254,22 +254,22 @@ LocalStore::LocalStore(bool reserveSpace)
         Path perUserDir = profilesDir + "/per-user";
         createDirs(perUserDir);
         if (chmod(perUserDir.c_str(), 01777) == -1)
-            throw SysError(format("could not set permissions on `%1%' to 1777") % perUserDir);
+            throw SysError(format("could not set permissions on ‘%1%’ to 1777") % perUserDir);
 
         struct group * gr = getgrnam(settings.buildUsersGroup.c_str());
         if (!gr)
-            throw Error(format("the group `%1%' specified in `build-users-group' does not exist")
+            throw Error(format("the group ‘%1%’ specified in ‘build-users-group’ does not exist")
                 % settings.buildUsersGroup);
 
         struct stat st;
         if (stat(settings.nixStore.c_str(), &st))
-            throw SysError(format("getting attributes of path `%1%'") % settings.nixStore);
+            throw SysError(format("getting attributes of path ‘%1%’") % settings.nixStore);
 
         if (st.st_uid != 0 || st.st_gid != gr->gr_gid || (st.st_mode & ~S_IFMT) != 01775) {
             if (chown(settings.nixStore.c_str(), 0, gr->gr_gid) == -1)
-                throw SysError(format("changing ownership of path `%1%'") % settings.nixStore);
+                throw SysError(format("changing ownership of path ‘%1%’") % settings.nixStore);
             if (chmod(settings.nixStore.c_str(), 01775) == -1)
-                throw SysError(format("changing permissions on path `%1%'") % settings.nixStore);
+                throw SysError(format("changing permissions on path ‘%1%’") % settings.nixStore);
         }
     }
 
@@ -372,7 +372,7 @@ int LocalStore::getSchema()
     if (pathExists(schemaPath)) {
         string s = readFile(schemaPath);
         if (!string2Int(s, curSchema))
-            throw Error(format("`%1%' is corrupt") % schemaPath);
+            throw Error(format("‘%1%’ is corrupt") % schemaPath);
     }
     return curSchema;
 }
@@ -381,13 +381,13 @@ int LocalStore::getSchema()
 void LocalStore::openDB(bool create)
 {
     if (access(settings.nixDBPath.c_str(), R_OK | W_OK))
-        throw SysError(format("Nix database directory `%1%' is not writable") % settings.nixDBPath);
+        throw SysError(format("Nix database directory ‘%1%’ is not writable") % settings.nixDBPath);
 
     /* Open the Nix database. */
     string dbPath = settings.nixDBPath + "/db.sqlite";
     if (sqlite3_open_v2(dbPath.c_str(), &db.db,
             SQLITE_OPEN_READWRITE | (create ? SQLITE_OPEN_CREATE : 0), 0) != SQLITE_OK)
-        throw Error(format("cannot open Nix database `%1%'") % dbPath);
+        throw Error(format("cannot open Nix database ‘%1%’") % dbPath);
 
     if (sqlite3_busy_timeout(db, 60 * 60 * 1000) != SQLITE_OK)
         throwSQLiteError(db, "setting timeout");
@@ -511,7 +511,7 @@ static void canonicaliseTimestampAndPermissions(const Path & path, const struct
                  | 0444
                  | (st.st_mode & S_IXUSR ? 0111 : 0);
             if (chmod(path.c_str(), mode) == -1)
-                throw SysError(format("changing mode of `%1%' to %2$o") % path % mode);
+                throw SysError(format("changing mode of ‘%1%’ to %2$o") % path % mode);
         }
 
     }
@@ -529,7 +529,7 @@ static void canonicaliseTimestampAndPermissions(const Path & path, const struct
 #else
         if (!S_ISLNK(st.st_mode) && utimes(path.c_str(), times) == -1)
 #endif
-            throw SysError(format("changing modification time of `%1%'") % path);
+            throw SysError(format("changing modification time of ‘%1%’") % path);
     }
 }
 
@@ -538,7 +538,7 @@ void canonicaliseTimestampAndPermissions(const Path & path)
 {
     struct stat st;
     if (lstat(path.c_str(), &st))
-        throw SysError(format("getting attributes of path `%1%'") % path);
+        throw SysError(format("getting attributes of path ‘%1%’") % path);
     canonicaliseTimestampAndPermissions(path, st);
 }
 
@@ -549,7 +549,7 @@ static void canonicalisePathMetaData_(const Path & path, uid_t fromUid, InodesSe
 
     struct stat st;
     if (lstat(path.c_str(), &st))
-        throw SysError(format("getting attributes of path `%1%'") % path);
+        throw SysError(format("getting attributes of path ‘%1%’") % path);
 
     /* Really make sure that the path is of a supported type.  This
        has already been checked in dumpPath(). */
@@ -564,7 +564,7 @@ static void canonicalisePathMetaData_(const Path & path, uid_t fromUid, InodesSe
     if (fromUid != (uid_t) -1 && st.st_uid != fromUid) {
         assert(!S_ISDIR(st.st_mode));
         if (inodesSeen.find(Inode(st.st_dev, st.st_ino)) == inodesSeen.end())
-            throw BuildError(format("invalid ownership on file `%1%'") % path);
+            throw BuildError(format("invalid ownership on file ‘%1%’") % path);
         mode_t mode = st.st_mode & ~S_IFMT;
         assert(S_ISLNK(st.st_mode) || (st.st_uid == geteuid() && (mode == 0444 || mode == 0555) && st.st_mtime == mtimeStore));
         return;
@@ -588,7 +588,7 @@ static void canonicalisePathMetaData_(const Path & path, uid_t fromUid, InodesSe
         if (!S_ISLNK(st.st_mode) &&
             chown(path.c_str(), geteuid(), (gid_t) -1) == -1)
 #endif
-            throw SysError(format("changing owner of `%1%' to %2%")
+            throw SysError(format("changing owner of ‘%1%’ to %2%")
                 % path % geteuid());
     }
 
@@ -608,11 +608,11 @@ void canonicalisePathMetaData(const Path & path, uid_t fromUid, InodesSeen & ino
        be a symlink, since we can't change its ownership. */
     struct stat st;
     if (lstat(path.c_str(), &st))
-        throw SysError(format("getting attributes of path `%1%'") % path);
+        throw SysError(format("getting attributes of path ‘%1%’") % path);
 
     if (st.st_uid != geteuid()) {
         assert(S_ISLNK(st.st_mode));
-        throw Error(format("wrong ownership of top-level store path `%1%'") % path);
+        throw Error(format("wrong ownership of top-level store path ‘%1%’") % path);
     }
 }
 
@@ -633,7 +633,7 @@ void LocalStore::checkDerivationOutputs(const Path & drvPath, const Derivation &
     if (isFixedOutputDrv(drv)) {
         DerivationOutputs::const_iterator out = drv.outputs.find("out");
         if (out == drv.outputs.end())
-            throw Error(format("derivation `%1%' does not have an output named `out'") % drvPath);
+            throw Error(format("derivation ‘%1%’ does not have an output named ‘out’") % drvPath);
 
         bool recursive; HashType ht; Hash h;
         out->second.parseHashInfo(recursive, ht, h);
@@ -641,7 +641,7 @@ void LocalStore::checkDerivationOutputs(const Path & drvPath, const Derivation &
 
         StringPairs::const_iterator j = drv.env.find("out");
         if (out->second.path != outPath || j == drv.env.end() || j->second != outPath)
-            throw Error(format("derivation `%1%' has incorrect output `%2%', should be `%3%'")
+            throw Error(format("derivation ‘%1%’ has incorrect output ‘%2%’, should be ‘%3%’")
                 % drvPath % out->second.path % outPath);
     }
 
@@ -658,7 +658,7 @@ void LocalStore::checkDerivationOutputs(const Path & drvPath, const Derivation &
             Path outPath = makeOutputPath(i->first, h, drvName);
             StringPairs::const_iterator j = drv.env.find(i->first);
             if (i->second.path != outPath || j == drv.env.end() || j->second != outPath)
-                throw Error(format("derivation `%1%' has incorrect output `%2%', should be `%3%'")
+                throw Error(format("derivation ‘%1%’ has incorrect output ‘%2%’, should be ‘%3%’")
                     % drvPath % i->second.path % outPath);
         }
     }
@@ -680,7 +680,7 @@ unsigned long long LocalStore::addValidPath(const ValidPathInfo & info, bool che
     else
         stmtRegisterValidPath.bind(); // null
     if (sqlite3_step(stmtRegisterValidPath) != SQLITE_DONE)
-        throwSQLiteError(db, format("registering valid path `%1%' in database") % info.path);
+        throwSQLiteError(db, format("registering valid path ‘%1%’ in database") % info.path);
     unsigned long long id = sqlite3_last_insert_rowid(db);
 
     /* If this is a derivation, then store the derivation outputs in
@@ -703,7 +703,7 @@ unsigned long long LocalStore::addValidPath(const ValidPathInfo & info, bool che
             stmtAddDerivationOutput.bind(i->first);
             stmtAddDerivationOutput.bind(i->second.path);
             if (sqlite3_step(stmtAddDerivationOutput) != SQLITE_DONE)
-                throwSQLiteError(db, format("adding derivation output for `%1%' in database") % info.path);
+                throwSQLiteError(db, format("adding derivation output for ‘%1%’ in database") % info.path);
         }
     }
 
@@ -728,7 +728,7 @@ void LocalStore::registerFailedPath(const Path & path)
         stmtRegisterFailedPath.bind(path);
         stmtRegisterFailedPath.bind(time(0));
         if (sqlite3_step(stmtRegisterFailedPath) != SQLITE_DONE)
-            throwSQLiteError(db, format("registering failed path `%1%'") % path);
+            throwSQLiteError(db, format("registering failed path ‘%1%’") % path);
     } end_retry_sqlite;
 }
 
@@ -776,7 +776,7 @@ void LocalStore::clearFailedPaths(const PathSet & paths)
             SQLiteStmtUse use(stmtClearFailedPath);
             stmtClearFailedPath.bind(*i);
             if (sqlite3_step(stmtClearFailedPath) != SQLITE_DONE)
-                throwSQLiteError(db, format("clearing failed path `%1%' in database") % *i);
+                throwSQLiteError(db, format("clearing failed path ‘%1%’ in database") % *i);
         }
 
         txn.commit();
@@ -788,11 +788,11 @@ Hash parseHashField(const Path & path, const string & s)
 {
     string::size_type colon = s.find(':');
     if (colon == string::npos)
-        throw Error(format("corrupt hash `%1%' in valid-path entry for `%2%'")
+        throw Error(format("corrupt hash ‘%1%’ in valid-path entry for ‘%2%’")
             % s % path);
     HashType ht = parseHashType(string(s, 0, colon));
     if (ht == htUnknown)
-        throw Error(format("unknown hash type `%1%' in valid-path entry for `%2%'")
+        throw Error(format("unknown hash type ‘%1%’ in valid-path entry for ‘%2%’")
             % string(s, 0, colon) % path);
     return parseHash(ht, string(s, colon + 1));
 }
@@ -813,7 +813,7 @@ ValidPathInfo LocalStore::queryPathInfo(const Path & path)
         stmtQueryPathInfo.bind(path);
 
         int r = sqlite3_step(stmtQueryPathInfo);
-        if (r == SQLITE_DONE) throw Error(format("path `%1%' is not valid") % path);
+        if (r == SQLITE_DONE) throw Error(format("path ‘%1%’ is not valid") % path);
         if (r != SQLITE_ROW) throwSQLiteError(db, "querying path in database");
 
         info.id = sqlite3_column_int(stmtQueryPathInfo, 0);
@@ -842,7 +842,7 @@ ValidPathInfo LocalStore::queryPathInfo(const Path & path)
         }
 
         if (r != SQLITE_DONE)
-            throwSQLiteError(db, format("error getting references of `%1%'") % path);
+            throwSQLiteError(db, format("error getting references of ‘%1%’") % path);
 
         return info;
     } end_retry_sqlite;
@@ -861,7 +861,7 @@ void LocalStore::updatePathInfo(const ValidPathInfo & info)
     stmtUpdatePathInfo.bind("sha256:" + printHash(info.hash));
     stmtUpdatePathInfo.bind(info.path);
     if (sqlite3_step(stmtUpdatePathInfo) != SQLITE_DONE)
-        throwSQLiteError(db, format("updating info of path `%1%' in database") % info.path);
+        throwSQLiteError(db, format("updating info of path ‘%1%’ in database") % info.path);
 }
 
 
@@ -871,7 +871,7 @@ unsigned long long LocalStore::queryValidPathId(const Path & path)
     stmtQueryPathInfo.bind(path);
     int res = sqlite3_step(stmtQueryPathInfo);
     if (res == SQLITE_ROW) return sqlite3_column_int(stmtQueryPathInfo, 0);
-    if (res == SQLITE_DONE) throw Error(format("path `%1%' is not valid") % path);
+    if (res == SQLITE_DONE) throw Error(format("path ‘%1%’ is not valid") % path);
     throwSQLiteError(db, "querying path in database");
 }
 
@@ -950,7 +950,7 @@ void LocalStore::queryReferrers_(const Path & path, PathSet & referrers)
     }
 
     if (r != SQLITE_DONE)
-        throwSQLiteError(db, format("error getting references of `%1%'") % path);
+        throwSQLiteError(db, format("error getting references of ‘%1%’") % path);
 }
 
 
@@ -986,7 +986,7 @@ PathSet LocalStore::queryValidDerivers(const Path & path)
         }
 
         if (r != SQLITE_DONE)
-            throwSQLiteError(db, format("error getting valid derivers of `%1%'") % path);
+            throwSQLiteError(db, format("error getting valid derivers of ‘%1%’") % path);
 
         return derivers;
     } end_retry_sqlite;
@@ -1008,7 +1008,7 @@ PathSet LocalStore::queryDerivationOutputs(const Path & path)
         }
 
         if (r != SQLITE_DONE)
-            throwSQLiteError(db, format("error getting outputs of `%1%'") % path);
+            throwSQLiteError(db, format("error getting outputs of ‘%1%’") % path);
 
         return outputs;
     } end_retry_sqlite;
@@ -1030,7 +1030,7 @@ StringSet LocalStore::queryDerivationOutputNames(const Path & path)
         }
 
         if (r != SQLITE_DONE)
-            throwSQLiteError(db, format("error getting output names of `%1%'") % path);
+            throwSQLiteError(db, format("error getting output names of ‘%1%’") % path);
 
         return outputNames;
     } end_retry_sqlite;
@@ -1073,7 +1073,7 @@ void LocalStore::startSubstituter(const Path & substituter, RunningSubstituter &
 {
     if (run.disabled || run.pid != -1) return;
 
-    debug(format("starting substituter program `%1%'") % substituter);
+    debug(format("starting substituter program ‘%1%’") % substituter);
 
     Pipe toPipe, fromPipe, errorPipe;
 
@@ -1091,7 +1091,7 @@ void LocalStore::startSubstituter(const Path & substituter, RunningSubstituter &
         if (dup2(errorPipe.writeSide, STDERR_FILENO) == -1)
             throw SysError("dupping stderr");
         execl(substituter.c_str(), substituter.c_str(), "--query", NULL);
-        throw SysError(format("executing `%1%'") % substituter);
+        throw SysError(format("executing ‘%1%’") % substituter);
     });
 
     run.program = baseNameOf(substituter);
@@ -1150,7 +1150,7 @@ string LocalStore::getLineFromSubstituter(RunningSubstituter & run)
                 if (errno == EINTR) continue;
                 throw SysError("reading from substituter's stderr");
             }
-            if (n == 0) throw EndOfFile(format("substituter `%1%' died unexpectedly") % run.program);
+            if (n == 0) throw EndOfFile(format("substituter ‘%1%’ died unexpectedly") % run.program);
             err.append(buf, n);
             string::size_type p;
             while ((p = err.find('\n')) != string::npos) {
@@ -1227,7 +1227,7 @@ void LocalStore::querySubstitutablePathInfos(const Path & substituter,
         Path path = getLineFromSubstituter(run);
         if (path == "") break;
         if (paths.find(path) == paths.end())
-            throw Error(format("got unexpected path `%1%' from substituter") % path);
+            throw Error(format("got unexpected path ‘%1%’ from substituter") % path);
         paths.erase(path);
         SubstitutablePathInfo & info(infos[path]);
         info.deriver = getLineFromSubstituter(run);
@@ -1321,7 +1321,7 @@ void LocalStore::registerValidPaths(const ValidPathInfos & infos)
    there are no referrers. */
 void LocalStore::invalidatePath(const Path & path)
 {
-    debug(format("invalidating path `%1%'") % path);
+    debug(format("invalidating path ‘%1%’") % path);
 
     drvHashes.erase(path);
 
@@ -1330,7 +1330,7 @@ void LocalStore::invalidatePath(const Path & path)
     stmtInvalidatePath.bind(path);
 
     if (sqlite3_step(stmtInvalidatePath) != SQLITE_DONE)
-        throwSQLiteError(db, format("invalidating path `%1%' in database") % path);
+        throwSQLiteError(db, format("invalidating path ‘%1%’ in database") % path);
 
     /* Note that the foreign key constraints on the Refs table take
        care of deleting the references entries for `path'. */
@@ -1396,7 +1396,7 @@ Path LocalStore::addToStore(const Path & _srcPath,
     bool recursive, HashType hashAlgo, PathFilter & filter, bool repair)
 {
     Path srcPath(absPath(_srcPath));
-    debug(format("adding `%1%' to the store") % srcPath);
+    debug(format("adding ‘%1%’ to the store") % srcPath);
 
     /* Read the whole path into memory. This is not a very scalable
        method for very large paths, but `copyPath' is mainly used for
@@ -1475,9 +1475,9 @@ static void checkSecrecy(const Path & path)
 {
     struct stat st;
     if (stat(path.c_str(), &st))
-        throw SysError(format("getting status of `%1%'") % path);
+        throw SysError(format("getting status of ‘%1%’") % path);
     if ((st.st_mode & (S_IRWXG | S_IRWXO)) != 0)
-        throw Error(format("file `%1%' should be secret (inaccessible to everybody else)!") % path);
+        throw Error(format("file ‘%1%’ should be secret (inaccessible to everybody else)!") % path);
 }
 
 
@@ -1486,10 +1486,10 @@ void LocalStore::exportPath(const Path & path, bool sign,
 {
     assertStorePath(path);
 
-    printMsg(lvlInfo, format("exporting path `%1%'") % path);
+    printMsg(lvlInfo, format("exporting path ‘%1%’") % path);
 
     if (!isValidPath(path))
-        throw Error(format("path `%1%' is not valid") % path);
+        throw Error(format("path ‘%1%’ is not valid") % path);
 
     HashAndWriteSink hashAndWriteSink(sink);
 
@@ -1501,7 +1501,7 @@ void LocalStore::exportPath(const Path & path, bool sign,
     Hash hash = hashAndWriteSink.currentHash();
     Hash storedHash = queryPathHash(path);
     if (hash != storedHash && storedHash != Hash(storedHash.type))
-        throw Error(format("hash of path `%1%' has changed from `%2%' to `%3%'!") % path
+        throw Error(format("hash of path ‘%1%’ has changed from ‘%2%’ to ‘%3%’!") % path
             % printHash(storedHash) % printHash(hash));
 
     writeInt(EXPORT_MAGIC, hashAndWriteSink);
@@ -1608,7 +1608,7 @@ Path LocalStore::importPath(bool requireSignature, Source & source)
     bool haveSignature = readInt(hashAndReadSource) == 1;
 
     if (requireSignature && !haveSignature)
-        throw Error(format("imported archive of `%1%' lacks a signature") % dstPath);
+        throw Error(format("imported archive of ‘%1%’ lacks a signature") % dstPath);
 
     if (haveSignature) {
         string signature = readString(hashAndReadSource);
@@ -1659,7 +1659,7 @@ Path LocalStore::importPath(bool requireSignature, Source & source)
             if (pathExists(dstPath)) deletePath(dstPath);
 
             if (rename(unpacked.c_str(), dstPath.c_str()) == -1)
-                throw SysError(format("cannot move `%1%' to `%2%'")
+                throw SysError(format("cannot move ‘%1%’ to ‘%2%’")
                     % unpacked % dstPath);
 
             canonicalisePathMetaData(dstPath, -1);
@@ -1692,7 +1692,7 @@ Paths LocalStore::importPaths(bool requireSignature, Source & source)
     while (true) {
         unsigned long long n = readLongLong(source);
         if (n == 0) break;
-        if (n != 1) throw Error("input doesn't look like something created by `nix-store --export'");
+        if (n != 1) throw Error("input doesn't look like something created by ‘nix-store --export’");
         res.push_back(importPath(requireSignature, source));
     }
     return res;
@@ -1710,7 +1710,7 @@ void LocalStore::invalidatePathChecked(const Path & path)
             PathSet referrers; queryReferrers_(path, referrers);
             referrers.erase(path); /* ignore self-references */
             if (!referrers.empty())
-                throw PathInUse(format("cannot delete path `%1%' because it is in use by %2%")
+                throw PathInUse(format("cannot delete path ‘%1%’ because it is in use by %2%")
                     % path % showPaths(referrers));
             invalidatePath(path);
         }
@@ -1755,12 +1755,12 @@ bool LocalStore::verifyStore(bool checkContents, bool repair)
                 ValidPathInfo info = queryPathInfo(*i);
 
                 /* Check the content hash (optionally - slow). */
-                printMsg(lvlTalkative, format("checking contents of `%1%'") % *i);
+                printMsg(lvlTalkative, format("checking contents of ‘%1%’") % *i);
                 HashResult current = hashPath(info.hash.type, *i);
 
                 if (info.hash != nullHash && info.hash != current.first) {
-                    printMsg(lvlError, format("path `%1%' was modified! "
-                            "expected hash `%2%', got `%3%'")
+                    printMsg(lvlError, format("path ‘%1%’ was modified! "
+                            "expected hash ‘%2%’, got ‘%3%’")
                         % *i % printHash(info.hash) % printHash(current.first));
                     if (repair) repairPath(*i); else errors = true;
                 } else {
@@ -1769,14 +1769,14 @@ bool LocalStore::verifyStore(bool checkContents, bool repair)
 
                     /* Fill in missing hashes. */
                     if (info.hash == nullHash) {
-                        printMsg(lvlError, format("fixing missing hash on `%1%'") % *i);
+                        printMsg(lvlError, format("fixing missing hash on ‘%1%’") % *i);
                         info.hash = current.first;
                         update = true;
                     }
 
                     /* Fill in missing narSize fields (from old stores). */
                     if (info.narSize == 0) {
-                        printMsg(lvlError, format("updating size field on `%1%' to %2%") % *i % current.second);
+                        printMsg(lvlError, format("updating size field on ‘%1%’ to %2%") % *i % current.second);
                         info.narSize = current.second;
                         update = true;
                     }
@@ -1810,7 +1810,7 @@ void LocalStore::verifyPath(const Path & path, const PathSet & store,
     done.insert(path);
 
     if (!isStorePath(path)) {
-        printMsg(lvlError, format("path `%1%' is not in the Nix store") % path);
+        printMsg(lvlError, format("path ‘%1%’ is not in the Nix store") % path);
         invalidatePath(path);
         return;
     }
@@ -1828,10 +1828,10 @@ void LocalStore::verifyPath(const Path & path, const PathSet & store,
             }
 
         if (canInvalidate) {
-            printMsg(lvlError, format("path `%1%' disappeared, removing from database...") % path);
+            printMsg(lvlError, format("path ‘%1%’ disappeared, removing from database...") % path);
             invalidatePath(path);
         } else {
-            printMsg(lvlError, format("path `%1%' disappeared, but it still has valid referrers!") % path);
+            printMsg(lvlError, format("path ‘%1%’ disappeared, but it still has valid referrers!") % path);
             if (repair)
                 try {
                     repairPath(path);
@@ -1853,7 +1853,7 @@ bool LocalStore::pathContentsGood(const Path & path)
 {
     std::map<Path, bool>::iterator i = pathContentsGoodCache.find(path);
     if (i != pathContentsGoodCache.end()) return i->second;
-    printMsg(lvlInfo, format("checking path `%1%'...") % path);
+    printMsg(lvlInfo, format("checking path ‘%1%’...") % path);
     ValidPathInfo info = queryPathInfo(path);
     bool res;
     if (!pathExists(path))
@@ -1864,7 +1864,7 @@ bool LocalStore::pathContentsGood(const Path & path)
         res = info.hash == nullHash || info.hash == current.first;
     }
     pathContentsGoodCache[path] = res;
-    if (!res) printMsg(lvlError, format("path `%1%' is corrupted or missing!") % path);
+    if (!res) printMsg(lvlError, format("path ‘%1%’ is corrupted or missing!") % path);
     return res;
 }
 
@@ -1895,7 +1895,7 @@ ValidPathInfo LocalStore::queryPathInfoOld(const Path & path)
     string baseName = baseNameOf(path);
     Path infoFile = (format("%1%/info/%2%") % settings.nixDBPath % baseName).str();
     if (!pathExists(infoFile))
-        throw Error(format("path `%1%' is not valid") % path);
+        throw Error(format("path ‘%1%’ is not valid") % path);
     string info = readFile(infoFile);
 
     /* Parse it. */
@@ -1904,7 +1904,7 @@ ValidPathInfo LocalStore::queryPathInfoOld(const Path & path)
     foreach (Strings::iterator, i, lines) {
         string::size_type p = i->find(':');
         if (p == string::npos)
-            throw Error(format("corrupt line in `%1%': %2%") % infoFile % *i);
+            throw Error(format("corrupt line in ‘%1%’: %2%") % infoFile % *i);
         string name(*i, 0, p);
         string value(*i, p + 2);
         if (name == "References") {
@@ -1978,7 +1978,7 @@ static void makeMutable(const Path & path)
     AutoCloseFD fd = open(path.c_str(), O_RDONLY | O_NOFOLLOW);
     if (fd == -1) {
         if (errno == ELOOP) return; // it's a symlink
-        throw SysError(format("opening file `%1%'") % path);
+        throw SysError(format("opening file ‘%1%’") % path);
     }
 
     unsigned int flags = 0, old;
diff --git a/src/libstore/misc.cc b/src/libstore/misc.cc
index 6ecf8787..2facda81 100644
--- a/src/libstore/misc.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/misc.cc
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ Path findOutput(const Derivation & drv, string id)
 {
     foreach (DerivationOutputs::const_iterator, i, drv.outputs)
         if (i->first == id) return i->second.path;
-    throw Error(format("derivation has no output `%1%'") % id);
+    throw Error(format("derivation has no output ‘%1%’") % id);
 }
 
 
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ static void dfsVisit(StoreAPI & store, const PathSet & paths,
     PathSet & parents)
 {
     if (parents.find(path) != parents.end())
-        throw BuildError(format("cycle detected in the references of `%1%'") % path);
+        throw BuildError(format("cycle detected in the references of ‘%1%’") % path);
 
     if (visited.find(path) != visited.end()) return;
     visited.insert(path);
diff --git a/src/libstore/optimise-store.cc b/src/libstore/optimise-store.cc
index 67ee94a4..208d9688 100644
--- a/src/libstore/optimise-store.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/optimise-store.cc
@@ -18,9 +18,9 @@ static void makeWritable(const Path & path)
 {
     struct stat st;
     if (lstat(path.c_str(), &st))
-        throw SysError(format("getting attributes of path `%1%'") % path);
+        throw SysError(format("getting attributes of path ‘%1%’") % path);
     if (chmod(path.c_str(), st.st_mode | S_IWUSR) == -1)
-        throw SysError(format("changing writability of `%1%'") % path);
+        throw SysError(format("changing writability of ‘%1%’") % path);
 }
 
 
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ LocalStore::InodeHash LocalStore::loadInodeHash()
     InodeHash inodeHash;
 
     AutoCloseDir dir = opendir(linksDir.c_str());
-    if (!dir) throw SysError(format("opening directory `%1%'") % linksDir);
+    if (!dir) throw SysError(format("opening directory ‘%1%’") % linksDir);
 
     struct dirent * dirent;
     while (errno = 0, dirent = readdir(dir)) { /* sic */
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ LocalStore::InodeHash LocalStore::loadInodeHash()
         // We don't care if we hit non-hash files, anything goes
         inodeHash.insert(dirent->d_ino);
     }
-    if (errno) throw SysError(format("reading directory `%1%'") % linksDir);
+    if (errno) throw SysError(format("reading directory ‘%1%’") % linksDir);
 
     printMsg(lvlTalkative, format("loaded %1% hash inodes") % inodeHash.size());
 
@@ -67,14 +67,14 @@ Strings LocalStore::readDirectoryIgnoringInodes(const Path & path, const InodeHa
     Strings names;
 
     AutoCloseDir dir = opendir(path.c_str());
-    if (!dir) throw SysError(format("opening directory `%1%'") % path);
+    if (!dir) throw SysError(format("opening directory ‘%1%’") % path);
 
     struct dirent * dirent;
     while (errno = 0, dirent = readdir(dir)) { /* sic */
         checkInterrupt();
 
         if (inodeHash.count(dirent->d_ino)) {
-            printMsg(lvlDebug, format("`%1%' is already linked") % dirent->d_name);
+            printMsg(lvlDebug, format("‘%1%’ is already linked") % dirent->d_name);
             continue;
         }
 
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ Strings LocalStore::readDirectoryIgnoringInodes(const Path & path, const InodeHa
         if (name == "." || name == "..") continue;
         names.push_back(name);
     }
-    if (errno) throw SysError(format("reading directory `%1%'") % path);
+    if (errno) throw SysError(format("reading directory ‘%1%’") % path);
 
     return names;
 }
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ void LocalStore::optimisePath_(OptimiseStats & stats, const Path & path, InodeHa
 
     struct stat st;
     if (lstat(path.c_str(), &st))
-        throw SysError(format("getting attributes of path `%1%'") % path);
+        throw SysError(format("getting attributes of path ‘%1%’") % path);
 
     if (S_ISDIR(st.st_mode)) {
         Strings names = readDirectoryIgnoringInodes(path, inodeHash);
@@ -115,13 +115,13 @@ void LocalStore::optimisePath_(OptimiseStats & stats, const Path & path, InodeHa
        NixOS (example: $fontconfig/var/cache being modified).  Skip
        those files.  FIXME: check the modification time. */
     if (S_ISREG(st.st_mode) && (st.st_mode & S_IWUSR)) {
-        printMsg(lvlError, format("skipping suspicious writable file `%1%'") % path);
+        printMsg(lvlError, format("skipping suspicious writable file ‘%1%’") % path);
         return;
     }
 
     /* This can still happen on top-level files */
     if (st.st_nlink > 1 && inodeHash.count(st.st_ino)) {
-        printMsg(lvlDebug, format("`%1%' is already linked, with %2% other file(s).") % path % (st.st_nlink - 2));
+        printMsg(lvlDebug, format("‘%1%’ is already linked, with %2% other file(s).") % path % (st.st_nlink - 2));
         return;
     }
 
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ void LocalStore::optimisePath_(OptimiseStats & stats, const Path & path, InodeHa
        contents of the symlink (i.e. the result of readlink()), not
        the contents of the target (which may not even exist). */
     Hash hash = hashPath(htSHA256, path).first;
-    printMsg(lvlDebug, format("`%1%' has hash `%2%'") % path % printHash(hash));
+    printMsg(lvlDebug, format("‘%1%’ has hash ‘%2%’") % path % printHash(hash));
 
     /* Check if this is a known hash. */
     Path linkPath = linksDir + "/" + printHash32(hash);
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ void LocalStore::optimisePath_(OptimiseStats & stats, const Path & path, InodeHa
             return;
         }
         if (errno != EEXIST)
-            throw SysError(format("cannot link `%1%' to `%2%'") % linkPath % path);
+            throw SysError(format("cannot link ‘%1%’ to ‘%2%’") % linkPath % path);
         /* Fall through if another process created ‘linkPath’ before
            we did. */
     }
@@ -156,14 +156,14 @@ void LocalStore::optimisePath_(OptimiseStats & stats, const Path & path, InodeHa
        current file with a hard link to that file. */
     struct stat stLink;
     if (lstat(linkPath.c_str(), &stLink))
-        throw SysError(format("getting attributes of path `%1%'") % linkPath);
+        throw SysError(format("getting attributes of path ‘%1%’") % linkPath);
 
     if (st.st_ino == stLink.st_ino) {
-        printMsg(lvlDebug, format("`%1%' is already linked to `%2%'") % path % linkPath);
+        printMsg(lvlDebug, format("‘%1%’ is already linked to ‘%2%’") % path % linkPath);
         return;
     }
 
-    printMsg(lvlTalkative, format("linking `%1%' to `%2%'") % path % linkPath);
+    printMsg(lvlTalkative, format("linking ‘%1%’ to ‘%2%’") % path % linkPath);
 
     /* Make the containing directory writable, but only if it's not
        the store itself (we don't want or need to mess with its
@@ -184,26 +184,26 @@ void LocalStore::optimisePath_(OptimiseStats & stats, const Path & path, InodeHa
                systems).  This is likely to happen with empty files.
                Just shrug and ignore. */
             if (st.st_size)
-                printMsg(lvlInfo, format("`%1%' has maximum number of links") % linkPath);
+                printMsg(lvlInfo, format("‘%1%’ has maximum number of links") % linkPath);
             return;
         }
-        throw SysError(format("cannot link `%1%' to `%2%'") % tempLink % linkPath);
+        throw SysError(format("cannot link ‘%1%’ to ‘%2%’") % tempLink % linkPath);
     }
 
     /* Atomically replace the old file with the new hard link. */
     if (rename(tempLink.c_str(), path.c_str()) == -1) {
         if (unlink(tempLink.c_str()) == -1)
-            printMsg(lvlError, format("unable to unlink `%1%'") % tempLink);
+            printMsg(lvlError, format("unable to unlink ‘%1%’") % tempLink);
         if (errno == EMLINK) {
             /* Some filesystems generate too many links on the rename,
                rather than on the original link.  (Probably it
                temporarily increases the st_nlink field before
                decreasing it again.) */
             if (st.st_size)
-                printMsg(lvlInfo, format("`%1%' has maximum number of links") % linkPath);
+                printMsg(lvlInfo, format("‘%1%’ has maximum number of links") % linkPath);
             return;
         }
-        throw SysError(format("cannot rename `%1%' to `%2%'") % tempLink % path);
+        throw SysError(format("cannot rename ‘%1%’ to ‘%2%’") % tempLink % path);
     }
 
     stats.filesLinked++;
@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@ void LocalStore::optimiseStore(OptimiseStats & stats)
     foreach (PathSet::iterator, i, paths) {
         addTempRoot(*i);
         if (!isValidPath(*i)) continue; /* path was GC'ed, probably */
-        startNest(nest, lvlChatty, format("hashing files in `%1%'") % *i);
+        startNest(nest, lvlChatty, format("hashing files in ‘%1%’") % *i);
         optimisePath_(stats, *i, inodeHash);
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/libstore/pathlocks.cc b/src/libstore/pathlocks.cc
index b858ed23..f26684af 100644
--- a/src/libstore/pathlocks.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/pathlocks.cc
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ int openLockFile(const Path & path, bool create)
 
     fd = open(path.c_str(), O_RDWR | (create ? O_CREAT : 0), 0600);
     if (fd == -1 && (create || errno != ENOENT))
-        throw SysError(format("opening lock file `%1%'") % path);
+        throw SysError(format("opening lock file ‘%1%’") % path);
 
     closeOnExec(fd);
 
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ bool PathLocks::lockPaths(const PathSet & _paths,
         Path path = *i;
         Path lockPath = path + ".lock";
 
-        debug(format("locking path `%1%'") % path);
+        debug(format("locking path ‘%1%’") % path);
 
         if (lockedPaths.find(lockPath) != lockedPaths.end())
             throw Error("deadlock: trying to re-acquire self-held lock");
@@ -134,19 +134,19 @@ bool PathLocks::lockPaths(const PathSet & _paths,
                 }
             }
 
-            debug(format("lock acquired on `%1%'") % lockPath);
+            debug(format("lock acquired on ‘%1%’") % lockPath);
 
             /* Check that the lock file hasn't become stale (i.e.,
                hasn't been unlinked). */
             struct stat st;
             if (fstat(fd, &st) == -1)
-                throw SysError(format("statting lock file `%1%'") % lockPath);
+                throw SysError(format("statting lock file ‘%1%’") % lockPath);
             if (st.st_size != 0)
                 /* This lock file has been unlinked, so we're holding
                    a lock on a deleted file.  This means that other
                    processes may create and acquire a lock on
                    `lockPath', and proceed.  So we must retry. */
-                debug(format("open lock file `%1%' has become stale") % lockPath);
+                debug(format("open lock file ‘%1%’ has become stale") % lockPath);
             else
                 break;
         }
@@ -174,9 +174,9 @@ void PathLocks::unlock()
         lockedPaths.erase(i->second);
         if (close(i->first) == -1)
             printMsg(lvlError,
-                format("error (ignored): cannot close lock file on `%1%'") % i->second);
+                format("error (ignored): cannot close lock file on ‘%1%’") % i->second);
 
-        debug(format("lock released on `%1%'") % i->second);
+        debug(format("lock released on ‘%1%’") % i->second);
     }
 
     fds.clear();
diff --git a/src/libstore/references.cc b/src/libstore/references.cc
index 282b8489..521244a3 100644
--- a/src/libstore/references.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/references.cc
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ static void search(const unsigned char * s, unsigned int len,
         if (!match) continue;
         string ref((const char *) s + i, refLength);
         if (hashes.find(ref) != hashes.end()) {
-            debug(format("found reference to `%1%' at offset `%2%'")
+            debug(format("found reference to ‘%1%’ at offset ‘%2%’")
                   % ref % i);
             seen.insert(ref);
             hashes.erase(ref);
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ PathSet scanForReferences(const string & path,
         string baseName = baseNameOf(*i);
         string::size_type pos = baseName.find('-');
         if (pos == string::npos)
-            throw Error(format("bad reference `%1%'") % *i);
+            throw Error(format("bad reference ‘%1%’") % *i);
         string s = string(baseName, 0, pos);
         assert(s.size() == refLength);
         assert(backMap.find(s) == backMap.end());
diff --git a/src/libstore/remote-store.cc b/src/libstore/remote-store.cc
index 7c51f395..8ef67378 100644
--- a/src/libstore/remote-store.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/remote-store.cc
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ void RemoteStore::openConnection(bool reserveSpace)
            us. */
         connectToDaemon();
     else
-        throw Error(format("invalid setting for NIX_REMOTE, `%1%'") % remoteMode);
+        throw Error(format("invalid setting for NIX_REMOTE, ‘%1%’") % remoteMode);
 
     from.fd = fdSocket;
     to.fd = fdSocket;
@@ -116,12 +116,12 @@ void RemoteStore::connectToDaemon()
     struct sockaddr_un addr;
     addr.sun_family = AF_UNIX;
     if (socketPathRel.size() >= sizeof(addr.sun_path))
-        throw Error(format("socket path `%1%' is too long") % socketPathRel);
+        throw Error(format("socket path ‘%1%’ is too long") % socketPathRel);
     using namespace std;
     strcpy(addr.sun_path, socketPathRel.c_str());
 
     if (connect(fdSocket, (struct sockaddr *) &addr, sizeof(addr)) == -1)
-        throw SysError(format("cannot connect to daemon at `%1%'") % socketPath);
+        throw SysError(format("cannot connect to daemon at ‘%1%’") % socketPath);
 
     if (fchdir(fdPrevDir) == -1)
         throw SysError("couldn't change back to previous directory");
diff --git a/src/libstore/store-api.cc b/src/libstore/store-api.cc
index 0238e5b0..d3cbd1e7 100644
--- a/src/libstore/store-api.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/store-api.cc
@@ -32,14 +32,14 @@ bool isStorePath(const Path & path)
 void assertStorePath(const Path & path)
 {
     if (!isStorePath(path))
-        throw Error(format("path `%1%' is not in the Nix store") % path);
+        throw Error(format("path ‘%1%’ is not in the Nix store") % path);
 }
 
 
 Path toStorePath(const Path & path)
 {
     if (!isInStore(path))
-        throw Error(format("path `%1%' is not in the Nix store") % path);
+        throw Error(format("path ‘%1%’ is not in the Nix store") % path);
     Path::size_type slash = path.find('/', settings.nixStore.size() + 1);
     if (slash == Path::npos)
         return path;
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ Path followLinksToStore(const Path & _path)
         path = absPath(target, dirOf(path));
     }
     if (!isInStore(path))
-        throw Error(format("path `%1%' is not in the Nix store") % path);
+        throw Error(format("path ‘%1%’ is not in the Nix store") % path);
     return path;
 }
 
@@ -81,14 +81,14 @@ void checkStoreName(const string & name)
     /* Disallow names starting with a dot for possible security
        reasons (e.g., "." and ".."). */
     if (string(name, 0, 1) == ".")
-        throw Error(format("illegal name: `%1%'") % name);
+        throw Error(format("illegal name: ‘%1%’") % name);
     foreach (string::const_iterator, i, name)
         if (!((*i >= 'A' && *i <= 'Z') ||
               (*i >= 'a' && *i <= 'z') ||
               (*i >= '0' && *i <= '9') ||
               validChars.find(*i) != string::npos))
         {
-            throw Error(format("invalid character `%1%' in name `%2%'")
+            throw Error(format("invalid character ‘%1%’ in name ‘%2%’")
                 % *i % name);
         }
 }
@@ -288,7 +288,7 @@ string showPaths(const PathSet & paths)
     string s;
     foreach (PathSet::const_iterator, i, paths) {
         if (s.size() != 0) s += ", ";
-        s += "`" + *i + "'";
+        s += "‘" + *i + "’";
     }
     return s;
 }
diff --git a/src/libutil/archive.cc b/src/libutil/archive.cc
index 6856ea0f..9e16e04a 100644
--- a/src/libutil/archive.cc
+++ b/src/libutil/archive.cc
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ static void dumpContents(const Path & path, size_t size,
     writeLongLong(size, sink);
 
     AutoCloseFD fd = open(path.c_str(), O_RDONLY);
-    if (fd == -1) throw SysError(format("opening file `%1%'") % path);
+    if (fd == -1) throw SysError(format("opening file ‘%1%’") % path);
 
     unsigned char buf[65536];
     size_t left = size;
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ static void dump(const Path & path, Sink & sink, PathFilter & filter)
 {
     struct stat st;
     if (lstat(path.c_str(), &st))
-        throw SysError(format("getting attributes of path `%1%'") % path);
+        throw SysError(format("getting attributes of path ‘%1%’") % path);
 
     writeString("(", sink);
 
@@ -89,11 +89,11 @@ static void dump(const Path & path, Sink & sink, PathFilter & filter)
                 string name(i.name);
                 size_t pos = i.name.find(caseHackSuffix);
                 if (pos != string::npos) {
-                    printMsg(lvlDebug, format("removing case hack suffix from `%1%'") % (path + "/" + i.name));
+                    printMsg(lvlDebug, format("removing case hack suffix from ‘%1%’") % (path + "/" + i.name));
                     name.erase(pos);
                 }
                 if (unhacked.find(name) != unhacked.end())
-                    throw Error(format("file name collision in between `%1%' and `%2%'")
+                    throw Error(format("file name collision in between ‘%1%’ and ‘%2%’")
                         % (path + "/" + unhacked[name]) % (path + "/" + i.name));
                 unhacked[name] = i.name;
             } else
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ static void dump(const Path & path, Sink & sink, PathFilter & filter)
         writeString(readLink(path), sink);
     }
 
-    else throw Error(format("file `%1%' has an unsupported type") % path);
+    else throw Error(format("file ‘%1%’ has an unsupported type") % path);
 
     writeString(")", sink);
 }
@@ -247,14 +247,14 @@ static void parse(ParseSink & sink, Source & source, const Path & path)
                 } else if (s == "name") {
                     name = readString(source);
                     if (name.empty() || name == "." || name == ".." || name.find('/') != string::npos || name.find((char) 0) != string::npos)
-                        throw Error(format("NAR contains invalid file name `%1%'") % name);
+                        throw Error(format("NAR contains invalid file name ‘%1%’") % name);
                     if (name <= prevName)
                         throw Error("NAR directory is not sorted");
                     prevName = name;
                     if (useCaseHack) {
                         auto i = names.find(name);
                         if (i != names.end()) {
-                            printMsg(lvlDebug, format("case collision between `%1%' and `%2%'") % i->first % name);
+                            printMsg(lvlDebug, format("case collision between ‘%1%’ and ‘%2%’") % i->first % name);
                             name += caseHackSuffix;
                             name += int2String(++i->second);
                         } else
@@ -303,7 +303,7 @@ struct RestoreSink : ParseSink
     {
         Path p = dstPath + path;
         if (mkdir(p.c_str(), 0777) == -1)
-            throw SysError(format("creating directory `%1%'") % p);
+            throw SysError(format("creating directory ‘%1%’") % p);
     };
 
     void createRegularFile(const Path & path)
@@ -311,7 +311,7 @@ struct RestoreSink : ParseSink
         Path p = dstPath + path;
         fd.close();
         fd = open(p.c_str(), O_CREAT | O_EXCL | O_WRONLY, 0666);
-        if (fd == -1) throw SysError(format("creating file `%1%'") % p);
+        if (fd == -1) throw SysError(format("creating file ‘%1%’") % p);
     }
 
     void isExecutable()
diff --git a/src/libutil/hash.cc b/src/libutil/hash.cc
index de2c1ebd..965f3ed4 100644
--- a/src/libutil/hash.cc
+++ b/src/libutil/hash.cc
@@ -89,11 +89,11 @@ Hash parseHash(HashType ht, const string & s)
 {
     Hash hash(ht);
     if (s.length() != hash.hashSize * 2)
-        throw Error(format("invalid hash `%1%'") % s);
+        throw Error(format("invalid hash ‘%1%’") % s);
     for (unsigned int i = 0; i < hash.hashSize; i++) {
         string s2(s, i * 2, 2);
         if (!isxdigit(s2[0]) || !isxdigit(s2[1])) 
-            throw Error(format("invalid hash `%1%'") % s);
+            throw Error(format("invalid hash ‘%1%’") % s);
         std::istringstream str(s2);
         int n;
         str >> std::hex >> n;
@@ -200,10 +200,10 @@ Hash parseHash32(HashType ht, const string & s)
         for (digit = 0; digit < base32Chars.size(); ++digit) /* !!! slow */
             if (chars[digit] == c) break;
         if (digit >= 32)
-            throw Error(format("invalid base-32 hash `%1%'") % s);
+            throw Error(format("invalid base-32 hash ‘%1%’") % s);
         if (mul(hash.hash, 32, hash.hashSize) ||
             add(hash.hash, digit, hash.hashSize))
-            throw Error(format("base-32 hash `%1%' is too large") % s);
+            throw Error(format("base-32 hash ‘%1%’ is too large") % s);
     }
 
     return hash;
@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@ Hash parseHash16or32(HashType ht, const string & s)
         /* base-32 representation */
         hash = parseHash32(ht, s);
     else
-        throw Error(format("hash `%1%' has wrong length for hash type `%2%'")
+        throw Error(format("hash ‘%1%’ has wrong length for hash type ‘%2%’")
             % s % printHashType(ht));
     return hash;
 }
@@ -290,13 +290,13 @@ Hash hashFile(HashType ht, const Path & path)
     start(ht, ctx);
 
     AutoCloseFD fd = open(path.c_str(), O_RDONLY);
-    if (fd == -1) throw SysError(format("opening file `%1%'") % path);
+    if (fd == -1) throw SysError(format("opening file ‘%1%’") % path);
 
     unsigned char buf[8192];
     ssize_t n;
     while ((n = read(fd, buf, sizeof(buf)))) {
         checkInterrupt();
-        if (n == -1) throw SysError(format("reading file `%1%'") % path);
+        if (n == -1) throw SysError(format("reading file ‘%1%’") % path);
         update(ht, ctx, buf, n);
     }
     
diff --git a/src/libutil/util.cc b/src/libutil/util.cc
index 0600352f..82574879 100644
--- a/src/libutil/util.cc
+++ b/src/libutil/util.cc
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ Path canonPath(const Path & path, bool resolveSymlinks)
     string s;
 
     if (path[0] != '/')
-        throw Error(format("not an absolute path: `%1%'") % path);
+        throw Error(format("not an absolute path: ‘%1%’") % path);
 
     string::const_iterator i = path.begin(), end = path.end();
     string temp;
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ Path canonPath(const Path & path, bool resolveSymlinks)
                the symlink target might contain new symlinks). */
             if (resolveSymlinks && isLink(s)) {
                 if (++followCount >= maxFollow)
-                    throw Error(format("infinite symlink recursion in path `%1%'") % path);
+                    throw Error(format("infinite symlink recursion in path ‘%1%’") % path);
                 temp = absPath(readLink(s), dirOf(s))
                     + string(i, end);
                 i = temp.begin(); /* restart */
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ Path dirOf(const Path & path)
 {
     Path::size_type pos = path.rfind('/');
     if (pos == string::npos)
-        throw Error(format("invalid file name `%1%'") % path);
+        throw Error(format("invalid file name ‘%1%’") % path);
     return pos == 0 ? "/" : Path(path, 0, pos);
 }
 
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ string baseNameOf(const Path & path)
 {
     Path::size_type pos = path.rfind('/');
     if (pos == string::npos)
-        throw Error(format("invalid file name `%1%'") % path);
+        throw Error(format("invalid file name ‘%1%’") % path);
     return string(path, pos + 1);
 }
 
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ struct stat lstat(const Path & path)
 {
     struct stat st;
     if (lstat(path.c_str(), &st))
-        throw SysError(format("getting status of `%1%'") % path);
+        throw SysError(format("getting status of ‘%1%’") % path);
     return st;
 }
 
@@ -188,10 +188,10 @@ Path readLink(const Path & path)
     checkInterrupt();
     struct stat st = lstat(path);
     if (!S_ISLNK(st.st_mode))
-        throw Error(format("`%1%' is not a symlink") % path);
+        throw Error(format("‘%1%’ is not a symlink") % path);
     char buf[st.st_size];
     if (readlink(path.c_str(), buf, st.st_size) != st.st_size)
-        throw SysError(format("reading symbolic link `%1%'") % path);
+        throw SysError(format("reading symbolic link ‘%1%’") % path);
     return string(buf, st.st_size);
 }
 
@@ -209,7 +209,7 @@ DirEntries readDirectory(const Path & path)
     entries.reserve(64);
 
     AutoCloseDir dir = opendir(path.c_str());
-    if (!dir) throw SysError(format("opening directory `%1%'") % path);
+    if (!dir) throw SysError(format("opening directory ‘%1%’") % path);
 
     struct dirent * dirent;
     while (errno = 0, dirent = readdir(dir)) { /* sic */
@@ -218,7 +218,7 @@ DirEntries readDirectory(const Path & path)
         if (name == "." || name == "..") continue;
         entries.emplace_back(name, dirent->d_ino, dirent->d_type);
     }
-    if (errno) throw SysError(format("reading directory `%1%'") % path);
+    if (errno) throw SysError(format("reading directory ‘%1%’") % path);
 
     return entries;
 }
@@ -242,7 +242,7 @@ string readFile(const Path & path, bool drain)
 {
     AutoCloseFD fd = open(path.c_str(), O_RDONLY);
     if (fd == -1)
-        throw SysError(format("opening file `%1%'") % path);
+        throw SysError(format("opening file ‘%1%’") % path);
     return drain ? drainFD(fd) : readFile(fd);
 }
 
@@ -251,7 +251,7 @@ void writeFile(const Path & path, const string & s)
 {
     AutoCloseFD fd = open(path.c_str(), O_WRONLY | O_TRUNC | O_CREAT, 0666);
     if (fd == -1)
-        throw SysError(format("opening file `%1%'") % path);
+        throw SysError(format("opening file ‘%1%’") % path);
     writeFull(fd, (unsigned char *) s.data(), s.size());
 }
 
@@ -298,7 +298,7 @@ static void _deletePath(const Path & path, unsigned long long & bytesFreed)
         /* Make the directory writable. */
         if (!(st.st_mode & S_IWUSR)) {
             if (chmod(path.c_str(), st.st_mode | S_IWUSR) == -1)
-                throw SysError(format("making `%1%' writable") % path);
+                throw SysError(format("making ‘%1%’ writable") % path);
         }
 
         for (auto & i : readDirectory(path))
@@ -306,7 +306,7 @@ static void _deletePath(const Path & path, unsigned long long & bytesFreed)
     }
 
     if (remove(path.c_str()) == -1)
-        throw SysError(format("cannot unlink `%1%'") % path);
+        throw SysError(format("cannot unlink ‘%1%’") % path);
 }
 
 
@@ -320,7 +320,7 @@ void deletePath(const Path & path)
 void deletePath(const Path & path, unsigned long long & bytesFreed)
 {
     startNest(nest, lvlDebug,
-        format("recursively deleting path `%1%'") % path);
+        format("recursively deleting path ‘%1%’") % path);
     bytesFreed = 0;
     _deletePath(path, bytesFreed);
 }
@@ -357,11 +357,11 @@ Path createTempDir(const Path & tmpRoot, const Path & prefix,
                "wheel", then "tar" will fail to unpack archives that
                have the setgid bit set on directories. */
             if (chown(tmpDir.c_str(), (uid_t) -1, getegid()) != 0)
-                throw SysError(format("setting group of directory `%1%'") % tmpDir);
+                throw SysError(format("setting group of directory ‘%1%’") % tmpDir);
             return tmpDir;
         }
         if (errno != EEXIST)
-            throw SysError(format("creating directory `%1%'") % tmpDir);
+            throw SysError(format("creating directory ‘%1%’") % tmpDir);
     }
 }
 
@@ -375,12 +375,12 @@ Paths createDirs(const Path & path)
     if (lstat(path.c_str(), &st) == -1) {
         created = createDirs(dirOf(path));
         if (mkdir(path.c_str(), 0777) == -1 && errno != EEXIST)
-            throw SysError(format("creating directory `%1%'") % path);
+            throw SysError(format("creating directory ‘%1%’") % path);
         st = lstat(path);
         created.push_back(path);
     }
 
-    if (!S_ISDIR(st.st_mode)) throw Error(format("`%1%' is not a directory") % path);
+    if (!S_ISDIR(st.st_mode)) throw Error(format("‘%1%’ is not a directory") % path);
 
     return created;
 }
@@ -389,7 +389,7 @@ Paths createDirs(const Path & path)
 void createSymlink(const Path & target, const Path & link)
 {
     if (symlink(target.c_str(), link.c_str()))
-        throw SysError(format("creating symlink from `%1%' to `%2%'") % link % target);
+        throw SysError(format("creating symlink from ‘%1%’ to ‘%2%’") % link % target);
 }
 
 
@@ -560,7 +560,7 @@ AutoDelete::~AutoDelete()
                 deletePath(path);
             else {
                 if (remove(path.c_str()) == -1)
-                    throw SysError(format("cannot unlink `%1%'") % path);
+                    throw SysError(format("cannot unlink ‘%1%’") % path);
             }
         }
     } catch (...) {
@@ -801,7 +801,7 @@ void Pid::setKillSignal(int signal)
 
 void killUser(uid_t uid)
 {
-    debug(format("killing all processes running under uid `%1%'") % uid);
+    debug(format("killing all processes running under uid ‘%1%’") % uid);
 
     assert(uid != 0); /* just to be safe... */
 
@@ -827,7 +827,7 @@ void killUser(uid_t uid)
 #endif
             if (errno == ESRCH) break; /* no more processes */
             if (errno != EINTR)
-                throw SysError(format("cannot kill processes for uid `%1%'") % uid);
+                throw SysError(format("cannot kill processes for uid ‘%1%’") % uid);
         }
 
         _exit(0);
@@ -835,7 +835,7 @@ void killUser(uid_t uid)
 
     int status = pid.wait(true);
     if (status != 0)
-        throw Error(format("cannot kill processes for uid `%1%': %2%") % uid % statusToString(status));
+        throw Error(format("cannot kill processes for uid ‘%1%’: %2%") % uid % statusToString(status));
 
     /* !!! We should really do some check to make sure that there are
        no processes left running under `uid', but there is no portable
@@ -893,7 +893,7 @@ string runProgram(Path program, bool searchPath, const Strings & args)
         else
             execv(program.c_str(), (char * *) &cargs[0]);
 
-        throw SysError(format("executing `%1%'") % program);
+        throw SysError(format("executing ‘%1%’") % program);
     });
 
     pipe.writeSide.close();
@@ -903,7 +903,7 @@ string runProgram(Path program, bool searchPath, const Strings & args)
     /* Wait for the child to finish. */
     int status = pid.wait(true);
     if (!statusOk(status))
-        throw ExecError(format("program `%1%' %2%")
+        throw ExecError(format("program ‘%1%’ %2%")
             % program % statusToString(status));
 
     return result;
@@ -1046,7 +1046,7 @@ void expect(std::istream & str, const string & s)
     char s2[s.size()];
     str.read(s2, s.size());
     if (string(s2, s.size()) != s)
-        throw FormatError(format("expected string `%1%'") % s);
+        throw FormatError(format("expected string ‘%1%’") % s);
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/nix-daemon/nix-daemon.cc b/src/nix-daemon/nix-daemon.cc
index 3e6d6b2b..6d166c42 100644
--- a/src/nix-daemon/nix-daemon.cc
+++ b/src/nix-daemon/nix-daemon.cc
@@ -548,7 +548,7 @@ static void processConnection(bool trusted)
         /* Prevent users from doing something very dangerous. */
         if (geteuid() == 0 &&
             querySetting("build-users-group", "") == "")
-            throw Error("if you run `nix-daemon' as root, then you MUST set `build-users-group'!");
+            throw Error("if you run ‘nix-daemon’ as root, then you MUST set ‘build-users-group’!");
 #endif
 
         /* Open the store. */
@@ -683,7 +683,7 @@ static void daemonLoop(char * * argv)
         struct sockaddr_un addr;
         addr.sun_family = AF_UNIX;
         if (socketPathRel.size() >= sizeof(addr.sun_path))
-            throw Error(format("socket path `%1%' is too long") % socketPathRel);
+            throw Error(format("socket path ‘%1%’ is too long") % socketPathRel);
         strcpy(addr.sun_path, socketPathRel.c_str());
 
         unlink(socketPath.c_str());
@@ -695,12 +695,12 @@ static void daemonLoop(char * * argv)
         int res = bind(fdSocket, (struct sockaddr *) &addr, sizeof(addr));
         umask(oldMode);
         if (res == -1)
-            throw SysError(format("cannot bind to socket `%1%'") % socketPath);
+            throw SysError(format("cannot bind to socket ‘%1%’") % socketPath);
 
         chdir("/"); /* back to the root */
 
         if (listen(fdSocket, 5) == -1)
-            throw SysError(format("cannot listen on socket `%1%'") % socketPath);
+            throw SysError(format("cannot listen on socket ‘%1%’") % socketPath);
     }
 
     closeOnExec(fdSocket);
@@ -752,7 +752,7 @@ static void daemonLoop(char * * argv)
                 trusted = true;
 
             if (!trusted && !matchUser(user, group, allowedUsers))
-                throw Error(format("user `%1%' is not allowed to connect to the Nix daemon") % user);
+                throw Error(format("user ‘%1%’ is not allowed to connect to the Nix daemon") % user);
 
             printMsg(lvlInfo, format((string) "accepted connection from pid %1%, user %2%"
                     + (trusted ? " (trusted)" : "")) % clientPid % user);
diff --git a/src/nix-env/nix-env.cc b/src/nix-env/nix-env.cc
index ad0f4bdd..325c8b92 100644
--- a/src/nix-env/nix-env.cc
+++ b/src/nix-env/nix-env.cc
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ static string needArg(Strings::iterator & i,
     Strings & args, const string & arg)
 {
     if (i == args.end()) throw UsageError(
-        format("`%1%' requires an argument") % arg);
+        format("‘%1%’ requires an argument") % arg);
     return *i++;
 }
 
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ static void getAllExprs(EvalState & state,
             if (hasSuffix(attrName, ".nix"))
                 attrName = string(attrName, 0, attrName.size() - 4);
             if (attrs.find(attrName) != attrs.end()) {
-                printMsg(lvlError, format("warning: name collision in input Nix expressions, skipping `%1%'") % path2);
+                printMsg(lvlError, format("warning: name collision in input Nix expressions, skipping ‘%1%’") % path2);
                 continue;
             }
             attrs.insert(attrName);
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ static void loadSourceExpr(EvalState & state, const Path & path, Value & v)
 {
     struct stat st;
     if (stat(path.c_str(), &st) == -1)
-        throw SysError(format("getting information about `%1%'") % path);
+        throw SysError(format("getting information about ‘%1%’") % path);
 
     if (isNixExpr(path, st)) {
         state.evalFile(path, v);
@@ -232,7 +232,7 @@ static void checkSelectorUse(DrvNames & selectors)
     /* Check that all selectors have been used. */
     foreach (DrvNames::iterator, i, selectors)
         if (i->hits == 0 && i->fullName != "*")
-            throw Error(format("selector `%1%' matches no derivations") % i->fullName);
+            throw Error(format("selector ‘%1%’ matches no derivations") % i->fullName);
 }
 
 
@@ -303,7 +303,7 @@ static DrvInfos filterBySelector(EvalState & state, const DrvInfos & allElems,
             for (Newest::iterator j = newest.begin(); j != newest.end(); ++j) {
                 if (multiple.find(j->second.first.name) != multiple.end())
                     printMsg(lvlInfo,
-                        format("warning: there are multiple derivations named `%1%'; using the first one")
+                        format("warning: there are multiple derivations named ‘%1%’; using the first one")
                         % j->second.first.name);
                 matches.push_back(j->second);
             }
@@ -494,13 +494,13 @@ static void installDerivations(Globals & globals,
                 if (!globals.preserveInstalled &&
                     newNames.find(drvName.name) != newNames.end() &&
                     !keep(*i))
-                    printMsg(lvlInfo, format("replacing old `%1%'") % i->name);
+                    printMsg(lvlInfo, format("replacing old ‘%1%’") % i->name);
                 else
                     allElems.push_back(*i);
             }
 
             foreach (DrvInfos::iterator, i, newElems)
-                printMsg(lvlInfo, format("installing `%1%'") % i->name);
+                printMsg(lvlInfo, format("installing ‘%1%’") % i->name);
         }
 
         printMissing(*globals.state, newElems);
@@ -522,7 +522,7 @@ static void opInstall(Globals & globals, Strings opFlags, Strings opArgs)
             globals.preserveInstalled = true;
         else if (arg == "--remove-all" || arg == "-r")
             globals.removeAll = true;
-        else throw UsageError(format("unknown flag `%1%'") % arg);
+        else throw UsageError(format("unknown flag ‘%1%’") % arg);
     }
 
     installDerivations(globals, opArgs, globals.profile);
@@ -599,13 +599,13 @@ static void upgradeDerivations(Globals & globals,
                     bestElem->queryOutPath())
                 {
                     printMsg(lvlInfo,
-                        format("upgrading `%1%' to `%2%'")
+                        format("upgrading ‘%1%’ to ‘%2%’")
                         % i->name % bestElem->name);
                     newElems.push_back(*bestElem);
                 } else newElems.push_back(*i);
 
             } catch (Error & e) {
-                e.addPrefix(format("while trying to find an upgrade for `%1%':\n") % i->name);
+                e.addPrefix(format("while trying to find an upgrade for ‘%1%’:\n") % i->name);
                 throw;
             }
         }
@@ -630,7 +630,7 @@ static void opUpgrade(Globals & globals, Strings opFlags, Strings opArgs)
         else if (arg == "--leq") upgradeType = utLeq;
         else if (arg == "--eq") upgradeType = utEq;
         else if (arg == "--always") upgradeType = utAlways;
-        else throw UsageError(format("unknown flag `%1%'") % arg);
+        else throw UsageError(format("unknown flag ‘%1%’") % arg);
     }
 
     upgradeDerivations(globals, opArgs, upgradeType);
@@ -649,9 +649,9 @@ static void setMetaFlag(EvalState & state, DrvInfo & drv,
 static void opSetFlag(Globals & globals, Strings opFlags, Strings opArgs)
 {
     if (opFlags.size() > 0)
-        throw UsageError(format("unknown flag `%1%'") % opFlags.front());
+        throw UsageError(format("unknown flag ‘%1%’") % opFlags.front());
     if (opArgs.size() < 2)
-        throw UsageError("not enough arguments to `--set-flag'");
+        throw UsageError("not enough arguments to ‘--set-flag’");
 
     Strings::iterator arg = opArgs.begin();
     string flagName = *arg++;
@@ -668,7 +668,7 @@ static void opSetFlag(Globals & globals, Strings opFlags, Strings opArgs)
             DrvName drvName(i->name);
             foreach (DrvNames::iterator, j, selectors)
                 if (j->matches(drvName)) {
-                    printMsg(lvlInfo, format("setting flag on `%1%'") % i->name);
+                    printMsg(lvlInfo, format("setting flag on ‘%1%’") % i->name);
                     j->hits++;
                     setMetaFlag(*globals.state, *i, flagName, flagValue);
                     break;
@@ -689,7 +689,7 @@ static void opSet(Globals & globals, Strings opFlags, Strings opArgs)
     for (Strings::iterator i = opFlags.begin(); i != opFlags.end(); ) {
         string arg = *i++;
         if (parseInstallSourceOptions(globals, i, opFlags, arg)) ;
-        else throw UsageError(format("unknown flag `%1%'") % arg);
+        else throw UsageError(format("unknown flag ‘%1%’") % arg);
     }
 
     DrvInfos elems;
@@ -736,7 +736,7 @@ static void uninstallDerivations(Globals & globals, Strings & selectors,
                 if ((isPath(*j) && i->queryOutPath() == followLinksToStorePath(*j))
                     || DrvName(*j).matches(drvName))
                 {
-                    printMsg(lvlInfo, format("uninstalling `%1%'") % i->name);
+                    printMsg(lvlInfo, format("uninstalling ‘%1%’") % i->name);
                     found = true;
                     break;
                 }
@@ -754,7 +754,7 @@ static void uninstallDerivations(Globals & globals, Strings & selectors,
 static void opUninstall(Globals & globals, Strings opFlags, Strings opArgs)
 {
     if (opFlags.size() > 0)
-        throw UsageError(format("unknown flag `%1%'") % opFlags.front());
+        throw UsageError(format("unknown flag ‘%1%’") % opFlags.front());
     uninstallDerivations(globals, opArgs, globals.profile);
 }
 
@@ -864,7 +864,7 @@ static void queryJSON(Globals & globals, vector<DrvInfo> & elems)
             metaObj.attr(*j);
             Value * v = i->queryMeta(*j);
             if (!v) {
-                printMsg(lvlError, format("derivation `%1%' has invalid meta attribute `%2%'") % i->name % *j);
+                printMsg(lvlError, format("derivation ‘%1%’ has invalid meta attribute ‘%2%’") % i->name % *j);
                 cout << "null";
             } else {
                 PathSet context;
@@ -914,7 +914,7 @@ static void opQuery(Globals & globals, Strings opFlags, Strings opArgs)
         else if (arg == "--attr" || arg == "-A")
             attrPath = needArg(i, opFlags, arg);
         else
-            throw UsageError(format("unknown flag `%1%'") % arg);
+            throw UsageError(format("unknown flag ‘%1%’") % arg);
     }
 
 
@@ -963,7 +963,7 @@ static void opQuery(Globals & globals, Strings opFlags, Strings opArgs)
             try {
                 paths.insert(i->queryOutPath());
             } catch (AssertionError & e) {
-                printMsg(lvlTalkative, format("skipping derivation named `%1%' which gives an assertion failure") % i->name);
+                printMsg(lvlTalkative, format("skipping derivation named ‘%1%’ which gives an assertion failure") % i->name);
                 i->setFailed();
             }
         validPaths = store->queryValidPaths(paths);
@@ -986,7 +986,7 @@ static void opQuery(Globals & globals, Strings opFlags, Strings opArgs)
         try {
             if (i->hasFailed()) continue;
 
-            startNest(nest, lvlDebug, format("outputting query result `%1%'") % i->attrPath);
+            startNest(nest, lvlDebug, format("outputting query result ‘%1%’") % i->attrPath);
 
             if (globals.prebuiltOnly &&
                 validPaths.find(i->queryOutPath()) == validPaths.end() &&
@@ -1107,7 +1107,7 @@ static void opQuery(Globals & globals, Strings opFlags, Strings opArgs)
                             attrs2["name"] = *j;
                             Value * v = i->queryMeta(*j);
                             if (!v)
-                                printMsg(lvlError, format("derivation `%1%' has invalid meta attribute `%2%'") % i->name % *j);
+                                printMsg(lvlError, format("derivation ‘%1%’ has invalid meta attribute ‘%2%’") % i->name % *j);
                             else {
                                 if (v->type == tString) {
                                     attrs2["type"] = "string";
@@ -1142,9 +1142,9 @@ static void opQuery(Globals & globals, Strings opFlags, Strings opArgs)
             cout.flush();
 
         } catch (AssertionError & e) {
-            printMsg(lvlTalkative, format("skipping derivation named `%1%' which gives an assertion failure") % i->name);
+            printMsg(lvlTalkative, format("skipping derivation named ‘%1%’ which gives an assertion failure") % i->name);
         } catch (Error & e) {
-            e.addPrefix(format("while querying the derivation named `%1%':\n") % i->name);
+            e.addPrefix(format("while querying the derivation named ‘%1%’:\n") % i->name);
             throw;
         }
     }
@@ -1156,7 +1156,7 @@ static void opQuery(Globals & globals, Strings opFlags, Strings opArgs)
 static void opSwitchProfile(Globals & globals, Strings opFlags, Strings opArgs)
 {
     if (opFlags.size() > 0)
-        throw UsageError(format("unknown flag `%1%'") % opFlags.front());
+        throw UsageError(format("unknown flag ‘%1%’") % opFlags.front());
     if (opArgs.size() != 1)
         throw UsageError(format("exactly one argument expected"));
 
@@ -1204,7 +1204,7 @@ static void switchGeneration(Globals & globals, int dstGen)
 static void opSwitchGeneration(Globals & globals, Strings opFlags, Strings opArgs)
 {
     if (opFlags.size() > 0)
-        throw UsageError(format("unknown flag `%1%'") % opFlags.front());
+        throw UsageError(format("unknown flag ‘%1%’") % opFlags.front());
     if (opArgs.size() != 1)
         throw UsageError(format("exactly one argument expected"));
 
@@ -1219,7 +1219,7 @@ static void opSwitchGeneration(Globals & globals, Strings opFlags, Strings opArg
 static void opRollback(Globals & globals, Strings opFlags, Strings opArgs)
 {
     if (opFlags.size() > 0)
-        throw UsageError(format("unknown flag `%1%'") % opFlags.front());
+        throw UsageError(format("unknown flag ‘%1%’") % opFlags.front());
     if (opArgs.size() != 0)
         throw UsageError(format("no arguments expected"));
 
@@ -1230,7 +1230,7 @@ static void opRollback(Globals & globals, Strings opFlags, Strings opArgs)
 static void opListGenerations(Globals & globals, Strings opFlags, Strings opArgs)
 {
     if (opFlags.size() > 0)
-        throw UsageError(format("unknown flag `%1%'") % opFlags.front());
+        throw UsageError(format("unknown flag ‘%1%’") % opFlags.front());
     if (opArgs.size() != 0)
         throw UsageError(format("no arguments expected"));
 
@@ -1267,7 +1267,7 @@ static void deleteGeneration2(Globals & globals, unsigned int gen)
 static void opDeleteGenerations(Globals & globals, Strings opFlags, Strings opArgs)
 {
     if (opFlags.size() > 0)
-        throw UsageError(format("unknown flag `%1%'") % opFlags.front());
+        throw UsageError(format("unknown flag ‘%1%’") % opFlags.front());
 
     PathLocks lock;
     lockProfile(lock, globals.profile);
@@ -1288,7 +1288,7 @@ static void opDeleteGenerations(Globals & globals, Strings opFlags, Strings opAr
             int days;
 
             if (!string2Int(strDays, days) || days < 1)
-                throw UsageError(format("invalid number of days specifier `%1%'") % *i);
+                throw UsageError(format("invalid number of days specifier ‘%1%’") % *i);
 
             oldTime = curTime - days * 24 * 3600;
 
@@ -1307,7 +1307,7 @@ static void opDeleteGenerations(Globals & globals, Strings opFlags, Strings opAr
         } else {
             int n;
             if (!string2Int(*i, n) || n < 0)
-                throw UsageError(format("invalid generation specifier `%1%'")  % *i);
+                throw UsageError(format("invalid generation specifier ‘%1%’")  % *i);
             bool found = false;
             for (Generations::iterator j = gens.begin(); j != gens.end(); ++j) {
                 if (j->number == n) {
diff --git a/src/nix-env/profiles.cc b/src/nix-env/profiles.cc
index 074a5e8c..d8eb0ef5 100644
--- a/src/nix-env/profiles.cc
+++ b/src/nix-env/profiles.cc
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ Generations findGenerations(Path profile, int & curGen)
             gen.number = n;
             struct stat st;
             if (lstat(gen.path.c_str(), &st) != 0)
-                throw SysError(format("statting `%1%'") % gen.path);
+                throw SysError(format("statting ‘%1%’") % gen.path);
             gen.creationTime = st.st_mtime;
             gens.push_back(gen);
         }
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ Path createGeneration(Path profile, Path outPath)
 static void removeFile(const Path & path)
 {
     if (remove(path.c_str()) == -1)
-        throw SysError(format("cannot unlink `%1%'") % path);
+        throw SysError(format("cannot unlink ‘%1%’") % path);
 }
 
 
@@ -125,14 +125,14 @@ void switchLink(Path link, Path target)
        file-not-found or other error condition.  This is sufficient to
        atomically switch user environments. */
     if (rename(tmp.c_str(), link.c_str()) != 0)
-        throw SysError(format("renaming `%1%' to `%2%'") % tmp % link);
+        throw SysError(format("renaming ‘%1%’ to ‘%2%’") % tmp % link);
 }
 
 
 void lockProfile(PathLocks & lock, const Path & profile)
 {
     lock.lockPaths(singleton<PathSet>(profile),
-        (format("waiting for lock on profile `%1%'") % profile).str());
+        (format("waiting for lock on profile ‘%1%’") % profile).str());
     lock.setDeletion(true);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/nix-env/user-env.cc b/src/nix-env/user-env.cc
index e71ad34e..3ebd6c1f 100644
--- a/src/nix-env/user-env.cc
+++ b/src/nix-env/user-env.cc
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ bool createUserEnv(EvalState & state, DrvInfos & elems,
 
     Path lockTokenCur = optimisticLockProfile(profile);
     if (lockToken != lockTokenCur) {
-        printMsg(lvlError, format("profile `%1%' changed while we were busy; restarting") % profile);
+        printMsg(lvlError, format("profile ‘%1%’ changed while we were busy; restarting") % profile);
         return false;
     }
 
diff --git a/src/nix-hash/nix-hash.cc b/src/nix-hash/nix-hash.cc
index b08f0b0b..8035162a 100644
--- a/src/nix-hash/nix-hash.cc
+++ b/src/nix-hash/nix-hash.cc
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ int main(int argc, char * * argv)
                 string s = getArg(*arg, arg, end);
                 ht = parseHashType(s);
                 if (ht == htUnknown)
-                    throw UsageError(format("unknown hash type `%1%'") % s);
+                    throw UsageError(format("unknown hash type ‘%1%’") % s);
             }
             else if (*arg == "--to-base16") op = opTo16;
             else if (*arg == "--to-base32") op = opTo32;
diff --git a/src/nix-instantiate/nix-instantiate.cc b/src/nix-instantiate/nix-instantiate.cc
index e9f94276..5080160c 100644
--- a/src/nix-instantiate/nix-instantiate.cc
+++ b/src/nix-instantiate/nix-instantiate.cc
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ void processExpr(EvalState & state, const Strings & attrPaths,
                 /* What output do we want? */
                 string outputName = i->queryOutputName();
                 if (outputName == "")
-                    throw Error(format("derivation `%1%' lacks an `outputName' attribute ") % drvPath);
+                    throw Error(format("derivation ‘%1%’ lacks an ‘outputName’ attribute ") % drvPath);
 
                 if (gcRoot == "")
                     printGCWarning();
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ int main(int argc, char * * argv)
         if (findFile) {
             foreach (Strings::iterator, i, files) {
                 Path p = state.findFile(*i);
-                if (p == "") throw Error(format("unable to find `%1%'") % *i);
+                if (p == "") throw Error(format("unable to find ‘%1%’") % *i);
                 std::cout << p << std::endl;
             }
             return;
diff --git a/src/nix-store/dotgraph.cc b/src/nix-store/dotgraph.cc
index 72146eb6..a333d735 100644
--- a/src/nix-store/dotgraph.cc
+++ b/src/nix-store/dotgraph.cc
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ void printClosure(const Path & nePath, const StoreExpr & fs)
 
 	    ClosureElems::const_iterator elem = fs.closure.elems.find(path);
 	    if (elem == fs.closure.elems.end())
-		throw Error(format("bad closure, missing path `%1%'") % path);
+		throw Error(format("bad closure, missing path ‘%1%’") % path);
 
 	    for (StringSet::const_iterator i = elem->second.refs.begin();
 		 i != elem->second.refs.end(); ++i)
diff --git a/src/nix-store/nix-store.cc b/src/nix-store/nix-store.cc
index abe4c7e3..24ecf841 100644
--- a/src/nix-store/nix-store.cc
+++ b/src/nix-store/nix-store.cc
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ static Path useDeriver(Path path)
     if (!isDerivation(path)) {
         path = store->queryDeriver(path);
         if (path == "")
-            throw Error(format("deriver of path `%1%' is not known") % path);
+            throw Error(format("deriver of path ‘%1%’ is not known") % path);
     }
     return path;
 }
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ static PathSet realisePath(Path path, bool build = true)
         foreach (StringSet::iterator, j, p.second) {
             DerivationOutputs::iterator i = drv.outputs.find(*j);
             if (i == drv.outputs.end())
-                throw Error(format("derivation `%1%' does not have an output named `%2%'") % p.first % *j);
+                throw Error(format("derivation ‘%1%’ does not have an output named ‘%2%’") % p.first % *j);
             Path outPath = i->second.path;
             if (gcRoot == "")
                 printGCWarning();
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ static PathSet realisePath(Path path, bool build = true)
 
     else {
         if (build) store->ensurePath(path);
-        else if (!store->isValidPath(path)) throw Error(format("path `%1%' does not exist and cannot be created") % path);
+        else if (!store->isValidPath(path)) throw Error(format("path ‘%1%’ does not exist and cannot be created") % path);
         if (gcRoot == "")
             printGCWarning();
         else {
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ static void opRealise(Strings opFlags, Strings opArgs)
         else if (*i == "--repair") buildMode = bmRepair;
         else if (*i == "--check") buildMode = bmCheck;
         else if (*i == "--ignore-unknown") ignoreUnknown = true;
-        else throw UsageError(format("unknown flag `%1%'") % *i);
+        else throw UsageError(format("unknown flag ‘%1%’") % *i);
 
     Paths paths;
     foreach (Strings::iterator, i, opArgs) {
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ static void opAddFixed(Strings opFlags, Strings opArgs)
     for (Strings::iterator i = opFlags.begin();
          i != opFlags.end(); ++i)
         if (*i == "--recursive") recursive = true;
-        else throw UsageError(format("unknown flag `%1%'") % *i);
+        else throw UsageError(format("unknown flag ‘%1%’") % *i);
 
     if (opArgs.empty())
         throw UsageError("first argument must be hash algorithm");
@@ -193,10 +193,10 @@ static void opPrintFixedPath(Strings opFlags, Strings opArgs)
     for (Strings::iterator i = opFlags.begin();
          i != opFlags.end(); ++i)
         if (*i == "--recursive") recursive = true;
-        else throw UsageError(format("unknown flag `%1%'") % *i);
+        else throw UsageError(format("unknown flag ‘%1%’") % *i);
 
     if (opArgs.size() != 3)
-        throw UsageError(format("`--print-fixed-path' requires three arguments"));
+        throw UsageError(format("‘--print-fixed-path’ requires three arguments"));
 
     Strings::iterator i = opArgs.begin();
     HashType hashAlgo = parseHashType(*i++);
@@ -297,7 +297,7 @@ static void opQuery(Strings opFlags, Strings opArgs)
         else if (*i == "--use-output" || *i == "-u") useOutput = true;
         else if (*i == "--force-realise" || *i == "--force-realize" || *i == "-f") forceRealise = true;
         else if (*i == "--include-outputs") includeOutputs = true;
-        else throw UsageError(format("unknown flag `%1%'") % *i);
+        else throw UsageError(format("unknown flag ‘%1%’") % *i);
 
     switch (query) {
 
@@ -347,7 +347,7 @@ static void opQuery(Strings opFlags, Strings opArgs)
                 Derivation drv = derivationFromPath(*store, path);
                 StringPairs::iterator j = drv.env.find(bindingName);
                 if (j == drv.env.end())
-                    throw Error(format("derivation `%1%' has no environment binding named `%2%'")
+                    throw Error(format("derivation ‘%1%’ has no environment binding named ‘%2%’")
                         % path % bindingName);
                 cout << format("%1%\n") % j->second;
             }
@@ -434,7 +434,7 @@ static string shellEscape(const string & s)
 static void opPrintEnv(Strings opFlags, Strings opArgs)
 {
     if (!opFlags.empty()) throw UsageError("unknown flag");
-    if (opArgs.size() != 1) throw UsageError("`--print-env' requires one derivation store path");
+    if (opArgs.size() != 1) throw UsageError("‘--print-env’ requires one derivation store path");
 
     Path drvPath = opArgs.front();
     Derivation drv = derivationFromPath(*store, drvPath);
@@ -487,15 +487,15 @@ static void opReadLog(Strings opFlags, Strings opArgs)
                 AutoCloseFD fd = open(logBz2Path.c_str(), O_RDONLY);
                 FILE * f = 0;
                 if (fd == -1 || (f = fdopen(fd.borrow(), "r")) == 0)
-                    throw SysError(format("opening file `%1%'") % logBz2Path);
+                    throw SysError(format("opening file ‘%1%’") % logBz2Path);
                 int err;
                 BZFILE * bz = BZ2_bzReadOpen(&err, f, 0, 0, 0, 0);
-                if (!bz) throw Error(format("cannot open bzip2 file `%1%'") % logBz2Path);
+                if (!bz) throw Error(format("cannot open bzip2 file ‘%1%’") % logBz2Path);
                 unsigned char buf[128 * 1024];
                 do {
                     int n = BZ2_bzRead(&err, bz, buf, sizeof(buf));
                     if (err != BZ_OK && err != BZ_STREAM_END)
-                        throw Error(format("error reading bzip2 file `%1%'") % logBz2Path);
+                        throw Error(format("error reading bzip2 file ‘%1%’") % logBz2Path);
                     writeFull(STDOUT_FILENO, buf, n);
                 } while (err != BZ_STREAM_END);
                 BZ2_bzReadClose(&err, bz);
@@ -522,7 +522,7 @@ static void opReadLog(Strings opFlags, Strings opArgs)
             }
         }
 
-        if (!found) throw Error(format("build log of derivation `%1%' is not available") % path);
+        if (!found) throw Error(format("build log of derivation ‘%1%’ is not available") % path);
     }
 }
 
@@ -580,7 +580,7 @@ static void opRegisterValidity(Strings opFlags, Strings opArgs)
          i != opFlags.end(); ++i)
         if (*i == "--reregister") reregister = true;
         else if (*i == "--hash-given") hashGiven = true;
-        else throw UsageError(format("unknown flag `%1%'") % *i);
+        else throw UsageError(format("unknown flag ‘%1%’") % *i);
 
     if (!opArgs.empty()) throw UsageError("no arguments expected");
 
@@ -595,7 +595,7 @@ static void opCheckValidity(Strings opFlags, Strings opArgs)
     for (Strings::iterator i = opFlags.begin();
          i != opFlags.end(); ++i)
         if (*i == "--print-invalid") printInvalid = true;
-        else throw UsageError(format("unknown flag `%1%'") % *i);
+        else throw UsageError(format("unknown flag ‘%1%’") % *i);
 
     for (Strings::iterator i = opArgs.begin();
          i != opArgs.end(); ++i)
@@ -605,7 +605,7 @@ static void opCheckValidity(Strings opFlags, Strings opArgs)
             if (printInvalid)
                 cout << format("%1%\n") % path;
             else
-                throw Error(format("path `%1%' is not valid") % path);
+                throw Error(format("path ‘%1%’ is not valid") % path);
         }
     }
 }
@@ -651,7 +651,7 @@ static void opGC(Strings opFlags, Strings opArgs)
             long long maxFreed = getIntArg<long long>(*i, i, opFlags.end(), true);
             options.maxFreed = maxFreed >= 0 ? maxFreed : 0;
         }
-        else throw UsageError(format("bad sub-operation `%1%' in GC") % *i);
+        else throw UsageError(format("bad sub-operation ‘%1%’ in GC") % *i);
 
     if (!opArgs.empty()) throw UsageError("no arguments expected");
 
@@ -682,7 +682,7 @@ static void opDelete(Strings opFlags, Strings opArgs)
 
     foreach (Strings::iterator, i, opFlags)
         if (*i == "--ignore-liveness") options.ignoreLiveness = true;
-        else throw UsageError(format("unknown flag `%1%'") % *i);
+        else throw UsageError(format("unknown flag ‘%1%’") % *i);
 
     foreach (Strings::iterator, i, opArgs)
         options.pathsToDelete.insert(followLinksToStorePath(*i));
@@ -724,7 +724,7 @@ static void opExport(Strings opFlags, Strings opArgs)
     for (Strings::iterator i = opFlags.begin();
          i != opFlags.end(); ++i)
         if (*i == "--sign") sign = true;
-        else throw UsageError(format("unknown flag `%1%'") % *i);
+        else throw UsageError(format("unknown flag ‘%1%’") % *i);
 
     FdSink sink(STDOUT_FILENO);
     Paths sorted = topoSortPaths(*store, PathSet(opArgs.begin(), opArgs.end()));
@@ -738,7 +738,7 @@ static void opImport(Strings opFlags, Strings opArgs)
     bool requireSignature = false;
     foreach (Strings::iterator, i, opFlags)
         if (*i == "--require-signature") requireSignature = true;
-        else throw UsageError(format("unknown flag `%1%'") % *i);
+        else throw UsageError(format("unknown flag ‘%1%’") % *i);
 
     if (!opArgs.empty()) throw UsageError("no arguments expected");
 
@@ -774,7 +774,7 @@ static void opVerify(Strings opFlags, Strings opArgs)
          i != opFlags.end(); ++i)
         if (*i == "--check-contents") checkContents = true;
         else if (*i == "--repair") repair = true;
-        else throw UsageError(format("unknown flag `%1%'") % *i);
+        else throw UsageError(format("unknown flag ‘%1%’") % *i);
 
     if (ensureLocalStore().verifyStore(checkContents, repair)) {
         printMsg(lvlError, "warning: not all errors were fixed");
@@ -793,12 +793,12 @@ static void opVerifyPath(Strings opFlags, Strings opArgs)
 
     foreach (Strings::iterator, i, opArgs) {
         Path path = followLinksToStorePath(*i);
-        printMsg(lvlTalkative, format("checking path `%1%'...") % path);
+        printMsg(lvlTalkative, format("checking path ‘%1%’...") % path);
         ValidPathInfo info = store->queryPathInfo(path);
         HashResult current = hashPath(info.hash.type, path);
         if (current.first != info.hash) {
             printMsg(lvlError,
-                format("path `%1%' was modified! expected hash `%2%', got `%3%'")
+                format("path ‘%1%’ was modified! expected hash ‘%2%’, got ‘%3%’")
                 % path % printHash(info.hash) % printHash(current.first));
             status = 1;
         }
@@ -873,7 +873,7 @@ static void opServe(Strings opFlags, Strings opArgs)
     bool writeAllowed = false;
     foreach (Strings::iterator, i, opFlags)
         if (*i == "--write") writeAllowed = true;
-        else throw UsageError(format("unknown flag `%1%'") % *i);
+        else throw UsageError(format("unknown flag ‘%1%’") % *i);
 
     if (!opArgs.empty()) throw UsageError("no arguments expected");
 
diff --git a/tests/timeout.builder.sh b/tests/timeout.builder.sh
index 1ddb44e9..3fbdd579 100644
--- a/tests/timeout.builder.sh
+++ b/tests/timeout.builder.sh
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
-echo "\`timeout' builder entering an infinite loop"
+echo "‘timeout’ builder entering an infinite loop"
 while true ; do echo -n .; done
diff --git a/tests/timeout.sh b/tests/timeout.sh
index 6787a40d..2ebd06b9 100644
--- a/tests/timeout.sh
+++ b/tests/timeout.sh
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ source common.sh
 failed=0
 messages="`nix-build -Q timeout.nix --timeout 2 2>&1 || failed=1`"
 if [ $failed -ne 0 ]; then
-    echo "error: \`nix-store' succeeded; should have timed out"
+    echo "error: ‘nix-store’ succeeded; should have timed out"
     exit 1
 fi